Salman Owega and Elias Seppänen dominate in a Mercedes-AMG one-two. Alain Valente and Ralf Aron take second place in the ADAC GT Masters. Guest starters Paul Motorsport make it onto the podium at the Nürburgring.
The youngsters played it real cool in race five of this season’s ADAC GT Masters: 18-year-old Salman Owega (Cologne) and Elias Seppänen (19/FIN) produced an impressive overtaking manoeuvre at the start of race one at the Nürburgring, before going on to claim their second victory within the space of a week. At the wheel of the Landgraf Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3, they left their rivals no chance and took win number two of the season with a comfortable 15-second lead. “It was still raining shortly before the start, but we decided on slicks nevertheless. The changing conditions really played into my hands. Once I had taken the lead in the hairpin, I was soon able to open a gap. After that, I was particularly careful to avoid the wet kerbs and did not want to take any major risks. Elias then did a perfect job of wrapping up the win in the second part of the race,” said Owega. Second place, after a great fightback, went to another Mercedes-AMG – that of Alain Valente (CHE) and Ralf Aron (EST/both Haupt Racing Team). After some thrilling action in the closing stages, it was Maximilian Paul (Dresden) and Simon Connor Primm (Großschirma) who completed the podium in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Paul Motorsport.
Shortly before the start of Saturday afternoon’s race, a shower over the 3.629-kilometre track provided extra excitement in the ADAC GT Masters. With the sky overcast and temperatures around 22 degrees Celsius, Owega kept his nerve on the track in the Eifel Mountains, parts of which were still wet, and immediately took the lead in the first corner after the start. The crowds in the packed grandstands provided a great backdrop at the ADAC Truck Grand Prix, and were treated to a feast of thrilling motorsport. Owega soon opened a comfortable lead and was leading the race when he handed over to team-mate Seppänen during the mandatory pit stop. The Mercedes-AMG went on to take the chequered flag without coming under any pressure from the chasing pack. The Landgraf duo consequently moved to the top of the table with one race remaining until the halfway point of the season.
Runner-up Valente laid the foundations for his first podium in the ADAC GT Masters with a good start. From eighth on the grid, the 26-year-old consistently worked his way towards the front of the field. A late pit stop allowed his team-mate Aron to rejoin the former Formula 1 track in second place, and he went on to finish in precisely that position. “It was pretty tight in turn one, and I stayed clear of all the chaos. That allowed me to gain some positions. Unlike the teams ahead of us, we opted for a late pit stop. That strategy really paid dividends,” said Valente. The battle for third place became a nervy one for Paul Motorsport in the final few laps. After ADAC GT Masters debutant Primm had spent the whole race in the top three in the Lamborghini, Paul was able withstand the constant pressure from Marco Wittmann (Fürth/Project 1) towards the end of the race and was rewarded with a spot on the podium. “At the start of my stint I wanted to take second place. However, my top speed was lacking a little. With that in mind, I decided to defend third place. I really enjoyed the battle with Marco over the last few laps, and am glad to be heading home with the trophy,” said Lamborghini Junior Paul. Fourth place, after a host of wheel-to-wheel battles, went to Sandro Holzem (Polch) and DTM driver Wittmann from Project 1. The BMW duo made up six positions over the course of the race.
Pole-sitter Tim Zimmermann (Langenargen) and Jaxon Evans (NZ/Huber Racing) came home fifth in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. They were followed in sixth place by Lamborghini drivers Benjamin Hites (CHL) and Marco Mapelli (I/both GRT Grasser Racing Team). Kim-Luis Schramm (Meuspath) and Neil Verhagen (USA/both FK Performance Motorsport) were seventh in their BMW M4 GT3. Eighth place went to the BMW duo of Eduardo Coseteng (PHL) and Ben Green (GB/both Schubert Motorsport). The championship leaders coming into the race, Jannes Fittje (Langenhain) and Nico Menzel (Kelberg), ended the 60-minute sprint in ninth place in the Huber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R. Rounding out the top ten were Finn Gehrsitz (Stuttgart) and Sven Müller (Bingen/both Team Joos by Racemotion) in their Porsche 911 GT3 R.
From 15:00 on Sunday, the ADAC GT Masters will determine the winner of race six of the season on the sprint variant of the Nürburgring. We will then know who leads the 2023 championship at the halfway point. TV partner Sport1 is broadcasting the race live and in full on free-to-air TV. Prior to that, qualifying will be available from 09:05 on the free YouTube-Kanal @adacmotorsports.
