KLETTWITZ, Germany — Leo Pichler (23/AT) and Simon Birch (18/DNK/both Razoon – more than racing) have won again at the Dekra Lausitzring.
The two rookies in the Porsche 911 GT3 R braved the heavy rain in the second round of the ADAC GT Masters and crossed the finish line with a lead of 8.699 seconds.
“It was an absolute dream weekend. We did everything right and are now heading home with full points as the championship leader,” beamed Birch, who also won the Road to DTM. “I absolutely didn’t expect things to go this well. I knew we were well positioned for the season, but I never would have expected two wins in two races,” added Pichler, who also won the Silver Cup with Birch.
The top 3 were completed by Nico Hantke (21/Hürth)/Denis Bulatov (26/both Scherer Sport PHX) in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 and Jannes Fittje (25/Langenhain)/Moritz Wiskirchen (22/Euskirchen/both SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm) in the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Just in time for the starting grid, the heavens opened, causing most drivers to head straight out on rain tires.
Benefiting from the chaos at the start, Fittje took the lead. Simon Connor Primm (20, Großschirma, Paul Motorsport) slid off the track in his Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 after contact and lost fluid on his return, resulting in a redundancy in the race.
After the restart, Fittje retained the lead ahead of Birch and Jonathan Cecotto (25, VEN, Haupt Racing Team) in the Ford Mustang GT3, while Bulatov worked his way up to fourth place.
During the first pit stop phase, Razoon opted for a long stop with a tire change, while his competitors only refueled, so Hantke rejoined the track directly behind Wiskirchen. A slip-up by the Mercedes driver allowed Hantke to take the lead and extend it, but he still had to make a long stop including a tire change.
Pichler, who had meanwhile worked his way back up to second place, was faced with the shorter of the two scheduled pit stops, which meant he emerged from the pits side by side with Bulatov. A thrilling battle for victory was only decided by a mistake from the Audi driver.
“I stayed calm throughout and was able to bring it home safely in the end. The conditions were really fun,” explained Birch. Rival Bulatov added: “The rain helped us, and without the red flag, it might have even been enough for the win. When the Porsche came out of the pits after the stop, I knew I only had one chance. Unfortunately, I made a mistake, but luckily nothing happened, and we finished second.”
The third-place finishers in the race were also happy to be on the podium after difficult conditions. “The points are important for the championship,” said Wiskirchen. “I struggled after the stop and unfortunately slid into the gravel trap twice, which cost us the lead. In general, I really like the endurance format. It adds excitement and allows more scope for strategy.”
Salman Owega (20, Cologne) and Finn Wiebelhaus (19, Obertshausen, both Haupt Racing Team) finished fourth. Their teammates, Dennis Fetzer (23, Gießen) and Cecotto, finished fifth in their Ford Mustang GT3 after a long battle with Eduardo Coseteng (21, PHL) and Julian Hanses (27, Hilden, both FK Performance Motorsport). Carrie Schreiner (26, Völklingen) and Alain Valente (28, CHE, Land-Motorsport) in their Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 finished seventh, ahead of the FK Performance Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evos of Tim Zimmermann (28, Langenargen) and Leyton Fourie (19, RSA), and the Holzem twins Sandro and Juliano (20, Polch, both Schubert Motorsport). The top 10 were completed by Alexander Schwarzer (36/DEU)/Alexander Fach (22/CHE/both Fach Auto Tech), who also won the Pro-Am classification.
