HOCKENHEIM, Germany — Niklas Kalus (21/Duisburg)/Kiano Blum (19/AUT/both Haupt Racing Team) secured their debut victory in the ADAC’s GT3 junior series at the Hockenheimring.
The duo finished 1.891 seconds ahead of the new championship leaders, Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE)/Finn Zulauf (22/Königstein im Taunus/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in their Lamborghini.
Third place went to the Audi drivers Robin Rogalski (26/POL)/Simon Connor Primm (21/Großschirma/both HGL Racing).
“The relief is immense. We really wanted to get a win this year,” beamed Kalus. “We worked so incredibly hard and always had bad luck. That makes it all the more wonderful to experience a race that went smoothly from start to finish. I’m absolutely thrilled.” Teammate Blum was similarly enthusiastic: “Finally, our first win! I had a very good start, moving up to second place, but I realized we couldn’t quite match the Audi’s pace. So I tried to hand the tires over to Niklas in the best possible condition so he could attack again.”
With Hirsiger/Zulauf’s second-place finish, the standings have reversed. The Lamborghini duo from Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport now leads the championship by five points ahead of BMW drivers Tim Zimmermann (30/Langenargen)/Leyton Fourie (21/ZAF/both FK Performance Motorsport) going into the final race of the season.
After a difficult qualifying session, they fought their way up from 11th on the grid to sixth. Despite their victory, Kalus/Blum are no longer in contention for the title, trailing by 38 points.
The decision in the team standings has also been postponed until Sunday. FK Performance now leads Haupt Racing Team by 26 points and Engstler Motorsport by 42 points.
Under sunny skies and 17 degrees Celsius, the first race of the weekend got underway. Pole-sitter Leo Pichler (24/AUT/Razoon – More than Racing) initially held the lead in his Porsche, but Primm quickly attacked in his Audi and took the lead through the hairpin. He extended his advantage to almost ten seconds unchallenged before the pit stop.
Behind him, Blum moved into second place ahead of his teammate Fabian Dybionka (17/POL), while Pichler gradually dropped back through the field. Hirsiger opted for maximum caution in the opening laps to avoid any risk of retirement in the title fight and fell back to sixth position. However, by the time of the pit stop, the Swiss driver had fought his way back up to fourth place.
In the second half of the race, Rogalski tried to manage his lead in the Audi, but Kalus was rapidly closing the gap in his Ford Mustang. Colin Bönighausen (21/Isernhagen), who had taken over the pole-sitter Porsche from Pichler, finally caused a full-course yellow with his retirement.
As soon as the race restarted, it only took a few laps for Kalus to catch up to the Audi and eventually overtake it. Both Rogalski and Kalus were struggling with tire pressure after the slow laps. This allowed Zulauf, who had rejoined the track in third place after a very early pit stop, to steadily gain ground on the leaders and eventually also overtake Rogalski.
“Felix’s approach to the start of the race was exactly right. I was also more cautious today, because you always have the points in the back of your mind with every overtaking maneuver. I’m very happy that after this good result we’re back at the front of the championship and can now go into tomorrow a bit more relaxed,” explained Zulauf.
The Audi drivers’ joy at finishing third was rather subdued after leading for so long.
“I struggled with tire pressure the entire time during my stint, sliding a lot and driving like I was on ice. Third place is of course a good result, but I would have really liked to have held the lead,” explained Rogalski. Teammate Primm added: “I’m delighted that we’ve secured another podium finish for Audi. I had a fantastic start and a fair battle with Leo for the lead. Once I was in front, I was able to steadily extend my advantage. Thanks to Audi Sport, my team, and the engineers for that.”
Fourth place ultimately went to Fabian Dybionka (17/POL)/Emil Gjerdrum (19/NOR/both Haupt Racing Team) in the second Ford Mustang GT3, ahead of Mark Kastelic (18/SLO)/Pavel Lefterov (28/BGR/both Razoon – more than Racing) in the Porsche. Sixth place went to Zimmermann/Fourie in their BMW.
The guest starters from Fulinrace Academy, Gerhard Tweraser (37/AUT)/Petr Fulin (49/CZE), achieved seventh position in their Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 and celebrated victory in the Pro-Am category. Sandro and Juliano Holzem (22/Polch/both Schubert Motorsport) finished eighth in another BMW, ahead of their fellow BMW drivers Storm Gjerdrum (16/NOR)/Fabio Rauer (19/Stolberg/both FK Performance Motorsport).
Tim Hütter (19/AUT)/Ethan Brown (21/SGP/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) completed the top 10 in the Lamborghini.
