ADAC GT Masters Sachsenring - Race Reports

Another Win For Keilwitz & Alessi And A First For The V12 Vantage

Race 1

Diego Alessi laid the foundation for his second win of the season with a great start from pole position. The Italian went straight into the lead from pole but immediately came under pressure from reigning ADAC GT Masters champion Dino Lunardi in the BMW Alpina B6. Lunardi closed on Alessi to within attacking distance just before the changeover of drivers but was unable to manoeuvre into a position to pass the leading Corvette.

The order of the first two cars remained the same at the start of the second stint, but now it was Maxime Martin’s turn at the wheel of the B6 to chase the leading Corvette up hill and down dale at the Sachsenring. The scrap for first place came to an early end, however, when Martin had to pit with a puncture three laps from the end.

Even so, front-runner Keilwitz wasn’t allowed to sit back and relax for the last few minutes of the race. Having now moved up to second place, Nico Verdonck sensed an opportunity. Ultimately, however, the Ford GT driver had to be content with crossing the line 1.9 seconds behind the leader. The best Mercedes pair were Maximilian Götz and Sebastian Asch who made it onto the podium for the third time in five races in their black gullwing car.

“Maxime Martin put me under an enormous amount of pressure in the second half of the race, but I soon realised that he just wasn’t quick enough to overtake me,” said Keilwitz. “He suddenly disappeared from my rear-view mirror, and from then on I managed to keep a good distance ahead and control the race to the finish.” The race was several laps too short for Nico Verdonck: “I was pretty close to the Corvette during the final laps, but I ran out of time to mount a serious attack on Keilwitz.”

Fourth-placed Kristian Poulsen  and Christoffer Nygaard in the #33 Young Driver Aston Martin V12 Vantage only just missed out on a podium but must have been very pleased indeed with the best result so far for the British coupé in the ADAC GT Masters. Poulsen also had extra cause for celebration: by finishing fourth, the Dane recorded his second win of the season in the amateur rankings ahead of #18 Corvette driver Toni Seiler and Swen Dolenc in the #15 Fach Auto tech Porsche 997 GT3 R.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen meanwhile is inching his way closer to the top of the table. In the #27 Neuss Corvette he shares with Andreas Wirth, the ex-Formula 1 and DTM driver achieved his best result of the season. Frentzen/Wirth came in sixth behind the #8 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driven by the Austrian partnership of Hari Proczyk  and Dominik Baumann.

Positions seven and eight went to the two other gullwing cars of the HEICO-Team driven by Andreas Simonsen / Maxmilian Buhk and Kenneth Heyer/ Christiaan Frankenhout.

Edward Sandström and Christopher Mies in their #21 Prosperia uhc speed Audi R8 worked their way up from the tail end of the field to finish in the Top Ten. When Friday’s qualifying was cancelled and the rule was applied that the cars had to start in the same order as the championship table, ADAC GT Masters newcomer Sandström found himself back in P36 on the grid. In the course of the 60-minute race, the Swede and his co-driver, ex- ADAC GT Masters runner-up Mies, picked off one competitor after another to finish in ninth position. Toni Seiler and Frank Kechele took the remaining point with tenth place in their #18 Corvette.

Race 1 Result

1 28 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 Diego Alessi/ Daniel Keilwitz 43 laps 1:01:03.633
2 38 Lambda Performance Ford GT GT3  Jesse Krohn Nico Verdonck  + 1.996
3 5 kfzteile24 MS RACING Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3Maximilian Götz /Sebastian Asch + 4.582
4 33 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Kristian Poulsen / Christoffer Nygaard  + 16.734
5 8 HEICO Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Harald Proczyk/ Dominik Baumann + 23.680
6 27 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 Andreas Wirth / Heinz-Harald Frentzen + 24.966
7 9 HEICO Junior Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Andreas Simonsen / Maximilian Buhk + 25.421
8 7 HEICO Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Kenneth Heyer/ Christiaan Frankenhout + 40.198
9 21 Prosperia uhc speed Audi R8 LMS ultra Edward Sandström/ Christopher Mies + 40.636
10 18 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3  Frank Kechele/ Toni Seiler + 46.912
11 1 ALPINA BMW Alpina B6 GT3  Dino Lunardi/ Maxime Martin + 47.433
12 42 SMS Seyffarth Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Maximilian Mayer/ Jan Seyffarth + 54.461
13 4 kfzteile24 MS RACING Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Daniel Dobitsch / Florian Stoll + 1:08.835
14 29 Frogreen CO2 neutral  Porsche 911 GT3 R Nicolas Armindo/ Robert Renauer + 1:15.227
15 40 MAMEROW Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra  René Rast/  Christian Mamerow + 1:15.724
16 15 FACH AUTO TECH Porsche 911 GT3 R Martin Ragginger / Swen Dolenc + 1:15.823
17 23 WestCoast Racing BMW Z4 GT3 Fredrik Lestrup/ Martin Matzke + 1:16.139
18 31 Schulze Motorsport Nissan GT-R GT3  Tobias Schulze / Michael Schulze  + 1:17.019
19 41 B Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 Jeroen Den Boer/Simon Knap + 1:17.316
20 11 Team rhino's Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ Raffael Bader / David Mengesdorf + 1 lap
21 2 LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler BMW Alpina B6 GT3 Florian Spengler / Johannes Leidinger + 1 lap
22 25 Team GT3 Kasko Porsche 911 GT3 R Georg Engelhardt/ Marco Seefried + 1 lap
23 22 Prosperia uhc speed Audi R8 LMS ultra  Christian Abt / Carsten Tilke + 1 lap
24 16 FACH AUTO TECH Porsche 911 GT3 R Otto Klohs / Andrina Gugger + 1 lap
25 19 Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 Mirko Bortolotti / Abdulaziz Al Faisal + 1 lap
26 34 YACO Racing powered by Jochen Schweizer Chevrolet Camaro GT3 Max Sandritter / Christian Bracke + 2 laps
27 44 HEICO-GRAVITY CHAROUZ TEAM Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Erik Janis / Jan Stovicek + 2 laps
28 26 Team GT3 Kasko Porsche 911 GT3 R Alfred Renauer/ René Bourdeaux + 2 laps
29 24 InternetX-Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ Peter Kox /Dennis Retera + 4 laps
30 10 Schöner Wohnen Polarweiss Team HEICO Lance Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3  David Arnold / Alexandros Margaritis + 4 laps

Not Classified

31 20 Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 Claudia Hürtgen/ Dominik Schwager
32 14 MRS GT-Racing Christian Ott /Philipp Eng 
33 17 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 Frank Schmickler / Remo Lips 
34 12 Team rhino's Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ Oleg Petrishin / Korbinian Baier
35 35 YACO Racing powered by Jochen Schweizer Chevrolet Camaro GT3 Charlie Geipel / Achim Winter
36 32 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3  Ferdinand Stuck/ Johannes Stuck
37 Gemballa Racing McLaren MP4-12C GT3  Luca Ludwig/ Sascha Bert
38 Team Geyer&Weinig EDV-Unternehmensberatung / Schütz Motorsport  Porsche 911 GT3 R Christian Engelhart / Nick Tandy

Race 2

Sunday’s race was full of excitement right from the first corner. Pole-sitter Daniel Keilwitz (#28, Callaway Competition Corvette) immediately took the lead, with Dominik Schwager in the #20 Schubert BMW Z4 and Maxime Martin in the #1 ALPINA BMW ALPINA B6 in hot pursuit. Schwager was less than a second behind Keilwitz for the first quarter of the race but lost all hope of victory when he received a drive-through penalty for an infringement at the start. Third-placed Maxime Martin (Belgium) also ran out of luck when he had to make an unscheduled pit stop due to a puncture.

Keilwitz handed over to Diego Alessi at the compulsory pit stop, but in the process lost three seconds on the competition and, as a result, the race lead. Kristian Poulsen, who had waited until just before the end of the pit stop window before swapping with Christoffer Nygaard in the Aston Martin, now found himself out in front. Thanks to some great driving in the first stint, Nygaard had steadily worked his way up the field. Poulsen continued in the same vein throughout the second half of the race and managed to hold off his pursuers, Edward Sandström in the Audi R8 and Mirko Bortolotti in the BMW Z4. Not only did Poulsen win the race but also the amateur classification. Indeed, this was the first time in the history of the ADAC GT Masters, that an amateur driver has claimed overall victory. A delighted Poulsen said: “I had trouble with the clutch as well as with second and third gear on the first few laps after the pit stop. I was a bit worried at the time, but the problems suddenly disappeared after five laps. I would never have believed we couldwin here.” Nygaard was equally jubilant: “I wasn’t too sure which position I was in just before the pit stop. When I saw the pit board showing 1st place, I could hardly believe my eyes!”

Alessi crossed the finish line in fourth place, and in doing so, increased the partnership’s overall lead to 29 points. The championship leaders’ team- mates, Toni Seiler and Frank Kechele in the #18 Callaway Competition Vette, came in fifth, which elevates Seiler into second place in the amateur classification.

After being hit with an early drive-through penalty, Dominik Schwager and Claudia Hürtgen in the #20 Schubert BMW Z4 clawed their way back up the field to finish sixth. After a run of bad luck at the start of the season, Mamerow Racing will be pleased to have got on the scoreboard at last: Chris Mamerow and René Rast took seventh place in the #40 Mamerow Audi R8. The quickest of the Mercedes outfits were Jan Seyffarth and Maximilian Mayer who finished eighth in their #’42 SMS Seyffarth Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 ahead of the #41 DB Motorsport BMW Z4 driven by the Dutch duo of Simon Knap / Jeroen den Boer. Nicolas Armindo and Robert Renauer brought the fastest of the Porsche 911s, the #29 FROGREEN C02 neutral in at tenth.

Race 2 Result

1 33 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Kristian Poulsen / Christoffer Nygaard 43 laps 1:01:06.915
2 21 Prosperia uhc speed Audi R8 LMS ultra Edward Sandström / Christopher Mies + 1.222
3 19 Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 Abdulaziz Al Faisal /Mirko Bortolotti + 1.433
4 28 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 Daniel Keilwitz / Diego Alessi + 6.785
5 18 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 Toni Seiler / Frank Kechele + 14.034
6 20 Schubert Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 Dominik Schwager /Claudia Hürtgen + 20.899
7 40 MAMEROW Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra René Rast / Christian Mamerow + 26.472
8 42 SMS Seyffarth Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Jan Seyffarth /Maximilian Mayer + 28.234
9 41 DB Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3 Simon Knap / Jeroen Den Boer + 29.606
10 29 Frogreen CO2 neutral Porsche 911 GT3 R Nicolas Armindo /Robert Renauer + 36.215
11 15 FACH AUTO TECH Porsche 911 GT3 R Swen Dolenc / Martin Ragginger + 42.524
12 9 HEICO Junior Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Andreas Simonsen / Maximilian Buhk + 43.250
13 7 HEICO Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Kenneth Heyer / Christiaan Frankenhout + 43.409
14 5 kfzteile24 MS RACING Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Maximilian Götz / Sebastian Asch  + 43.952
15 31 Schulze Motorsport Nissan GT-R GT3 Michael Schulze / Tobias Schulze + 52.576
16 1 ALPINA BMW Alpina B6 GT3 Dino Lunardi /Maxime Martin + 57.710
17 24 InternetX-Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ Dennis Retera / Peter Kox + 1:01.445
18 8 HEICO Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Dominik Baumann/ Harald Proczyk + 1:02.580
19 17 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3 Frank Schmickler / Remo Lips + 1:10.784
20 37 Gemballa Racing McLaren MP4-12C GT3  Sascha Bert / Luca Ludwig + 1:14.224
21 26 Team GT3 Kasko Porsche 911 GT3 R René Bourdeaux / Alfred Renauer + 2:10.628
22 25 Team GT3 Kasko Porsche 911 GT3 R Marco Seefried / Georg Engelhardt + 1 lap
23 36 Team Geyer&Weinig EDV-Unternehmensberatung // Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R  Nick Tandy /Christian Engelhart + 1 lap
24 16 FACH AUTO TECH Porsche 911 GT3 R Andrina Gugger /Otto Klohs + 1 lap
25 35 YACO Racing powered by Jochen Schweizer Chevrolet Camaro GT3 Achim Winter / Charlie Geipel + 1 lap
26 34 YACO Racing powered by Jochen Schweizer Chevrolet Camaro GT3 Christian Bracke / Max Sandritter + 1 lap
27 2 LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler BMW Alpina B6 GT3 Florian Spengler / Johannes Leidinger + 2 laps
28 44 HEICO-GRAVITY CHAROUZ TEAM Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Erik Janis / Jan Stovicek + 3 laps
29 12 Team rhino's Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ Oleg Petrishin / Korbinian Baier + 3 laps
30 23 WestCoast Racing BMW Z4 GT3 Fredrik Lestrup / Martin Matzke + 4 laps

Not Classified

31 27 Callaway Competition Corvette Z06.R GT3  Heinz-Harald Frentzen / Andreas Wirth
32 11 Team rhino's Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ Raffael Bader / David Mengesdorf
33 38 Lambda Performance Ford GT Nicolas Verdonck / Jesse Krohn
34 22 Prosperia uhc speed Porsche 911 GT3 R  Christian Abt / Carsten Tilke
35 4 kfzteile24 MS RACING Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Florian Stoll / Daniel Dobitsch
36 10 Schöner Wohnen Polarweiss Team HEICO Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3  Lance David Arnold / Alexandros Margaritis
37 32 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Johannes Stuck / Ferdinand Stuck