Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing will kick off the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup powered by AWS race tomorrow from P15.

Ben Barnicoat, Chris Lulham, and Max Verstappen posted an average lap time of 1:42.624 - just over half a second shy of the pole position set in Portimao.

Meanwhile, Morris Schuring earned pole alongside Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello in the Boutsen VDS-Porsche.

The qualifying session at Portimao was divided into three parts, giving each driver in every car a chance behind the wheel.

Barnicoat set the pace in Q1, Lulham followed in Q2, and Verstappen closed out Q3.

Unfortunately, Barnicoat ran wide at turn 15 during his opening push on the straight, which not only spoiled his first stint but also hampered his following efforts. His best attempt in Q1 ended with a time of 1:43.124 from P21.

Pole for Schuring, but P15 for Verstappen

Lulham clocked the sixteenth fastest time with a 1:42.655, moving the Verstappen Racing car into fifteenth position on the overall leaderboard after Q2.

In Q3, Verstappen managed a best lap of 1:42.093, resulting in an average time of 1:42.624 for the number-3 AMG. As a result, Verstappen, four-time world champion, will start from P15 alongside teammates Barnicoat and Lulham in Portugal.

Valentino Rossi nightmare

But if Max Verstappen thought he had problems, things were much worse for Valentino Rossi's team, with the MotoGP legend set to start from the very back in P60.

The seven-time world champion ran wide during the second qualifying session, causing his lap time to be deleted.

Having not set another time it, voided the combined qualifying across the three sessions, meaning a long Sunday evening ahead for his BMW M4 carrying the number 46.