NURBURG, Germany — Alexander Fach (23/CHE) and Alexander Schwarzer (36/DEU) sensationally won the first round of the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring, part of the ADAC Truck GP, in their Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The Pro-Am duo from Fach Auto Tech beat the competition in the 80-minute endurance race by 15.560 seconds.
“Finally! We truly deserved this victory after steadily making strides forward through our hard work,” rejoiced Fach. “The race didn’t just happen for us; we made it ours and won thanks to our performance. At the end of my first stint, I laid the foundation for our eventual victory with a few clear laps. When I got back in the car, I didn’t want to think about placings and focused on myself. Five laps after the final pit stop, the team told me I had an eleven-second lead. From that moment on, I knew I wouldn’t let this victory go.”
Teammate Schwarzer added: “I still can’t believe it. It was such a great race and the car was incredible. I came out of the pits focused and knew where I needed to improve. I always just concentrated on the front and it worked.”
The podium was completed by Salman Owega (20, Cologne) and Finn Wiebelhaus (19, Obertshausen, both Haupt Racing Team) in the Ford Mustang GT3 and the Lamborghini drivers Finn Zulauf (20, Königsstein) and Simon Connor Primm (20, Großschirma, Paul Motorsport). Schwarzer and Fach also won the Pro-AM classification.
At the beginning of the race, a duel between the two Mustangs at the front developed, which Owega won. Fach immediately gained a position and was in third place.
After Owega dropped back to seventh due to a penalty, Max Reis (18/Ramstein/Haupt Racing Team) and Fach were in the lead.
On lap 10, Reis finally made his long pit stop and changed tires, while Fach drove four more laps. After the pit stop, which was shortened for Pro-Am teams due to the regulations, his teammate Schwarzer finally left the pits 11.4 seconds ahead of Primm and Wiebelhaus, who also completed their stop without a tire change. Both pursuers steadily closed the gap to the leading Porsche but found no overtaking opportunities.
“We were in second place and were even able to pull away from the Ford a bit and quickly close the gap,” explained third-placed Primm. “The car was great, but in the turbulent air we had no chance, and on the straight we had trouble even keeping up. This meant we lost the lead we had built up over the cars during the long stop. Our race was actually good and flawless, but I’m annoyed that I couldn’t get past the Porsche.”
Race-deciding scenes also unfolded at the rear of the field after the first pit stop phase. David Schumacher (23/DEU/Haupt Racing Team) in the Mustang, in ninth place, was the first driver to have already completed the long stop.
The 23-year-old had traveled to the Nürburgring at short notice that morning to replace the injured Niklas Kalus (20/Duisburg) alongside Reis.
Without having completed a single lap in the car, Schumacher got in, made up time on the leaders, and even overtook two cars at once during a maneuver.
“I received a call this morning asking me to come to the Nürburgring and take over from Niklas. So I drove here in the car for seven hours and essentially had a double endurance race,” said Schumacher, who also secured the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1:26.564 minutes.
After the stop, teammate Reis left the pits in second place behind the Fach Porsche, but was beaten by Owega and Zulauf’s Lamborghini on new tires.
“I was able to keep up with the pace well at the end and overtake Max,” said Owega after finishing second. “I made a small mistake at the start, but it ultimately didn’t affect the result. Finn managed his tires well in the middle stint, but the Porsche was out of reach today. We scored important points for the championship, and that’s our focus.”
The top six were completed by championship leaders Leo Pichler (23/AT)/Simon Birch (18/DNK/both Razoon – more than racing) in the Porsche 911 GT3 R and local heroes Sandro and Juliano Holzem (21/Polch/both Schubert Motorsport) in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Behind them were their fellow Audi drivers Tim Zimmermann (28/Langenargen)/Leyton Fourie (19/RSA/both FK Performance Motorsport) ahead of Jonas Karklys (36/LIT)/Emil Gjerdrum (18/NOR/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler by GRT).
After numerous, sometimes lap-long duels, Audi drivers Nico Hantke (21/Hürth)/Denis Bulatov (26) ultimately had to settle for ninth place at their Scherer Sport PHX team’s home race.
The top 10 were completed by Jannes Fittje (25/Langenhain)/Moritz Wiskirchen (22/Euskirchen/both SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm).
