ADAC GT Masters, Lausitzring – Race Reports
Plenty Of Firsts

In the first part of the split qualifying sessions for the ADAC GT Masters races at the EuroSpeedway Lausitzring, Niclas Kentenich aboard the Farnbacher Racing Ferrari 458 GT3 secured the first pole-position for the prancing horse.

Reigning FIA GT3 Champion Daniel Keilwitz put his Corvette Z.06 GT3 on the top spot for the second race.

Race 1

The first half of the race saw a spectacular battle between Niclas Kentenich in the Farnbacher Ferrari and Sebastian Asch, driving the a-workx-Akrapovic Porsche 911 GT3 R.

The two drivers rounded the 4.525 Kilometre long circuit in very close company, but Kentenich was able to withstand all the pressure Asch tried to put on him. After the driver changes, when Dominik Farnbacher climbed in the Ferrari and Michael Ammermüller took over the wheel of the Porsche, the two cars were still lapping the track within seconds of each other; but eventually Ammermüller found his way past the Ferrari and never surrendered his lead until the falling of the chequered flag.

But the Farnbacher Ferrari wasn’t destined to be runner-up, after a power-steering problem caused the car to fall down the order before finally retiring with two laps to go.

In an intense fight for second place, Daniel Keilwitz was the man who prevailed - securing second for him and his partner Diego Alessi. The Hegersport Porsche 911 GT3 R of Stefan Wendt, fielded by the Hermes Attempto Racing team, was able to secure third position.

By finishing in fourth place, Dino Lunardi and Alexandros Margaritis were able to get by the Stuck brothers, who, by finishing in 16th, didn’t score any points towards the championship. Fifth place went to the Primajob Team Heico Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 of Lance-David Arnold and Andreas Zuber, one place ahead of the Abt Audi of Luca Ludwig and Christopher Mies.

The next three spots were made up by three SLS, with the Thomas Jäger/Florian Stoll (MS-Racing) car finishing ahead of those of Robert Renauer/Kenneth Heyer (Black-Falcon) and Dominik Baumann/Harald Proczyk (Heico-Motorsport). The final point went to the second Abt-Audi of Christer Jöns and Jens Klingmann.

Race 2

After the start of the second race, Dominik Farnbacher, coming from fourth position on the grid, was able to get by the three cars ahead of him and take the lead of the race. Farnbacher was aided by a huge melee, which took out several cars. Thomas Jäger, also taking advantage of the trouble at the start of the race, took second position and during his stint the former DTM driver and Dominik Farnbacher were racing bumper to bumper. When Farnbacher dived for the pits for his mandatory pitstop, Jäger stayed out for one more lap and that was enough for the gullwing car to slip by the Farnbacher-Ferrari to take the lead.

In the second part of the race, Florian Stoll was able to hold off Niclas Kentenich aboard the Ferrari and took the first win for the MS-Racing team.

After their bad luck on Saturday, Kentenich brought the 458 GT3 home in second; the first podium-finish for the Farnbacher-Racing team in the GT Masters. Third place went to the Primajob Heico-Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 of Lance-David Arnold and Andreas Zuber.

By once again finishing in fourth place, Alexandros Margaritis and Dino Lunardi were able to pad their championship lead.

The Team Rhino’s Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo LP600+ of Marcel Leipert and David Mengesdorf crossed the line in fifth place ahead of the Dominik Baumann/Harald Proczyk SLS AMG GT3. Luca Ludwig dropped two places in the closing laps of the race and fell back to seventh position; this means that he and his partner Christopher Mies once again lost points to the Margaritis/Lunardi Alpina B6 GT3.

With their sister-car winning the race, the second MS-Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 of Maximilian Mayer and Maximilian Götz finished the race in eighth position. Former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Sven Hannawald secured ninth ahead of the Phoenix-Racing Audi R8 LMS of Christopher Haase and Andreas Simonsen. The prize for the worst weekend definitely went to the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 of Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck. After finishing in 16th place in the first race, they couldn’t even complete the pace car lap because of a loose lug-nut, which resulted in a DNS.

With 133 points, Alexandros Margaritis and Dino Lunardi have a 17-point advantage over the Stuck brothers. Christopher Mies and Luca Ludwig are 26 points behind the Alpina B6 GT3.

The next round of the ADAC GT Masters takes place at the TT Assen Circuit on September 16th–18th, ahead of the season finale at Hockenheim.

Sören Herweg