Paddock Radar from the Red Bull Ring

An entry in the Red Bull Ring history books, a special milestone on the podium, a birthday girl, and unrefined joy at a home event.

Sensational comeback by Scherer Sport PHX

Scherer Motorsport rose like a “Phoenix (Racing) from the ashes” at the Red Bull Ring. A crash meant they had to abandon their weekend at the Salzburgring and pack up the damaged Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2. They then had just one week before the next round of the ADAC GT Masters – a mammoth task. “We set off back from the Salzburgring to Meuspath at 4 o’clock on Friday morning. We removed everything that could still be used, and installed it in our car from the 24-hour race, which also still had to be repaired first,” said team principal Ron Moser. All weekend, the team worked from early in the morning to late at night, in order to be able to load the Audi, christened “Werner” after the former Audi Quattro GmbH boss and driving force behind the GT3 project, onto the truck on the Monday. “Werner was our lucky charm. The fact that we actually got a win was obviously a dream.” However, the real celebrations will have to wait until they get back to Meuspath and all the people who worked so hard in the background to make this success possible.

Audi claimed its first victory at the Red Bull Ring in the history of the ADAC GT Masters © Photo: ADAC

Audi makes history at the Red Bull Ring

There was another reason why the victory for Scherer Sport PHX was such a special one: this was the very first Audi success in the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring, where the series was making its 15th appearance this season. Corvette leads the way at the Austrian circuit with ten wins to its name, followed by BMW and Porsche with six victories each. The previous best results at the Red Bull Ring for the manufacturer with the four rings were two runner-up finishes and three third places. Generally speaking, Scherer Sport PHX also brought to an end a long lean period for Audi. The last victory in the ADAC GT Masters was back in 2022, when Christopher Mies and Tim Zimmermann triumphed for Land-Motorsport.

Nicolas Timoris, chief mechanic at HRT, enjoyed his ‘Shoey’ © Photo: ADAC

Formula 1 feeling on the ADAC GT Masters podium

Haupt Racing Team claimed its second win of the season with the Ford Mustang GT3 in race two of the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring. Representing the team on the podium for the first time was chief mechanic Nicolas Timoris. He took the opportunity to bring back memories of Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, copying his ‘Shoey’ and sipping his champagne out of his trainer. Like Ricciardo, Timoris is a proud Australian.

Carrie Schreiner was congratulated by her team © Photo: Land-Motorsport

Serenades and cake for birthday girl Carrie Schreiner

Sunday was a special day for Carrie Schreiner. The Land-Motorsport driver celebrated her 27th birthday. It goes without saying that her team welcomed her in the morning with birthday cake and many birthday wishes. And there was more to come: during an autograph session with the fans, all the drivers got together to sing happy birthday to the only woman in the ADAC GT Masters field.

Leo Pichler and Simon Birch celebrated third place © Photo: ADAC

Podium celebrations at home for Razoon

Even on the way to the Red Bull Ring, there was no doubt: this was a home event for ‘Razoon – more than racing’. The team featured prominently in many huge posters, giving a taste of the anticipation ahead of the race weekend in Spielberg. However, the good results were slow in coming – until Simon Birch launched a fightback in his Porsche on Sunday. Local boy Leo Pichler had handed the car over to him in ninth place, and the Dane raced through to third, only missing out on second place in a photo finish. An incredible moment for Pichler, who lives just an hour’s drive away in Weiz: “I was unbelievably happy. I always dreamed of making it onto the podium in the ADAC GT Masters at my home circuit. It is cool to have achieved that dream.”

Guest starters Ernst Kirchmayr and Fabrizio Crestani (centre), and Richard Gonda and Rudolf Beňo (right) finished on the podium for their teams © Photo: ADAC

Ferrari, Lamborghini and BMW line up as guest starters

The guest starters really made everyone sit up and pay attention at the Red Bull Ring. None more so than Baron Motorsport. Lining up with the Ferrari 296 GT3, they were initially in contention for overall victory in Sunday’s race, before ultimately winning the Pro-AM Cup with Ernst Kirchmayr and Fabrizio Crestani. Senkyr Motorsport, making their first appearance since 2017 in the ADAC GT Masters, also celebrated a podium in the Pro-AM Cup with drivers Rudolf Beňo and Richard Gonda at the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3. ARC Bratislava also impressed. Gerhard Tweraser qualified third in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo1, despite technical issues meaning he had only previously completed four laps. Unfortunately, the joy was short-lived, as the car was given a grid penalty for failing to meet the minimum weight requirement.