PLAINFIELD, Germany — Tim Zimmermann (28, DEU) and Leyton Fourie (19, RSA) won Sunday’s eventful ADAC GT Masters race.
The polesitters from FK Performance Motorsport in their BMW M4 GT3 Evo celebrated their second victory of the season and moved within eight points of the championship lead.
“My qualifying lap was one of the best I’ve ever driven. From that moment on, we knew we had a clear run and a good car for the race; we just had to execute it correctly,” beamed Fourie, who also won the “Road-to-DTM” classification.
“My out lap after the second stop was quite good, which put us ahead of the McLaren, and from then on it was just a matter of maintaining the pace.”
Teammate Zimmermann beamed with delight at his fourth victory overall in the ADAC GT Masters and the successful race tactics.
“Everything came together perfectly today. It was a chaotic race in which a lot happened. I was behind the McLaren at one point, but I knew that it wouldn’t score any points as a guest starter. I focused on driving cleanly, not overdoing it, and giving Leyton tires that were still in good condition for the final stint.”
The podium was completed by the McLaren drivers Ben Dörr (20, GER, Butzbach) and Guilherme de Oliveira (20, GER, both Dörr Motorsport), as well as championship leaders Salman Owega (20, GER, Cologne) and Finn Wiebelhaus (19, GER, both Haupt Racing Team) in the Ford Mustang GT3.
At the start of the 80-minute endurance race, Owega initially beat pole-sitter Fourie, but had to relinquish this position shortly afterwards. The BMW driver remained in front until the first pit stop, when almost all teams opted for the long stop for a tire change. As the race progressed, teammate Zimmermann fell back in a duel behind de Oliveira’s McLaren.
A red flag ultimately neutralized the race, but the order at the front remained unchanged at the subsequent restart.
The race-deciding position swap occurred during the second pit stop, when Fourie rejoined the track ahead of Dörr. The only thing separating the FK Performance Motorsport duo from victory was Alexander Schwarzer (36/DEU/Fach Auto Tech), whose shorter pit stop time due to the regulations had given him the temporary lead.
Nine minutes before the end of the race, first Fourie, then Dörr and then Owega found their way past Schwarzer in the Porsche 911 GT3 R and thus secured their places on the podium.
“We didn’t expect to do so well here,” said a delighted DTM driver Dörr about second place. “But we noticed right away at the start of the weekend that the track suits our McLaren and we’re doing well. The team did a fantastic job, and we both delivered pretty flawless races. In the final stint, we couldn’t keep up with the BMW’s pace. They pitted earlier, were able to drive freely, and therefore overtook us. Nevertheless, we’re very happy with first and second place this weekend.”
The picture at the top of the championship remains unchanged. Owega/Wiebelhaus remain in the lead in their Ford Mustang GT3, but with a lead of just eight points, they are under pressure from Zimmermann/Fourie. Third place in Sunday’s race at the Salzburgring was all the more important for the Haupt Racing Team drivers.
“We got the maximum out of it today and are satisfied with this team performance, because McLaren and BMW were simply stronger today,” said Wiebelhaus. “The race was very chaotic. I had two contacts through no fault of my own and tried to stay out of everything. With a view to the championship, it was important to get through well, and we want to extend our lead again at the Red Bull Ring.”
The twins Sandro and Juliano Holzem (21, Polch/Schubert Motorsport) crossed the finish line in fourth place in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Their fellow BMW drivers Eduardo Coseteng (21, PHL) and Julian Hanses (28, Hilden/both FK Performance Motorsport) completed the top five.
They all overtook Schwarzer in the final laps, who, together with Alexander Fach (23, CHE/Fach Auto Tech), finished sixth and celebrated his fifth win of the Pro-AM Cup season. Eighth place went to Finn Zulauf (20, Königsstein) and Simon Connor Primm (20, Großschirma/Paul Motorsport) in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, ahead of the two Ford duos from the Haupt Racing Team, Dennis Fetzer (24, Gießen) and Jonathan Cecotto (26, VEN) and Max Reis (18, Ramstein) and Niklas Kalus (20, Duisburg). The top 10 was completed by local favorites Leo Pichler (23/AT) and Simon Birch (18/DNK/Razoon – more than racing).
The Porsche drivers started from third place, but fell back to last place at one point due to various battles. They are still in third place in the championship, now 31 points behind the leaders.
