Lirim Zendeli (Ombra Racing) stormed to a quickest lap of 1m43.313s right in the dying seconds of the session to grab his first-ever GT racing pole position in qualifying for round 4 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia at the Autodromo di Imola.

The MIM-contracted German, currently lying fourth in the overall standings and P1 in the Rookies’ classification, took a bit of time to get into the swing of things in the 45-minute session, but once he did get going, he put in two quick laps in the final stages to power to his first pole of the year.

“Pole position obviously is amazing because the session was quite a mess,” declared Zendeli. “I didn’t get a good lap with my first set of tyres because on my first lap the tyres were cold and I had to abort and let everyone pass, like 20 cars. The tyres were still not there and then I couldn’t get another lap for the feeling. Then we had full course yellow and red flags and so much going on. And so basically on my second set I had to learn how to do it. I had three laps; the first one was not slow but it felt horrible because I could feel the car was great and I just couldn’t get it in. The second lap, I could feel that it was already good, but I knew I needed a bit more, so I just brought everything together for the last lap. And I couldn’t see my times, so I was not sure which position it was. Obviously, you can’t expect to be on pole position even if you feel it’s a good lap because I’ve not been on pole this year. It’s my first time I think for about three years, and it feels good! Two races to go now, no Ten Voorde here at Imola but it doesn’t matter, he wouldn’t have been faster!”

With the Dutchman absent, Lirim’s main challengers will be Frenchman Marvin Klein, second on the grid in a Target Competition Porsche, fellow rookie Francesco Braschi (Dinamic Motorsport) in third and his Ombra Racing team-mate Keagan Masters in fourth. The first of the two PCCI races this weekend gets underway at 16.25 this afternoon and the second tomorrow at noon.