Second win of the season for Zimmermann and Fourie from FK Performance Motorsport. Local favourite Primm finishes runner-up with Rogalski in an HGL Racing Audi. Haupt Racing Team drivers Gjerdrum and Reis come home third again in a Ford.

Halfway leaders with a bang: Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen) and Leyton Fourie (20/ZAF/both FK Performance Motorsport) claimed a dominant victory in race two of the ADAC GT Masters at the Dekra Lausitzring, winning by a clear 5.574 seconds. Their second win of the season saw the BMW drivers move to the top of the table at the halfway point of the season. Second place went to local favourite Simon Connor Primm (21) from Großschirma and Robin Rogalski (25/POL/both HGL Racing) in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2. Max Reis (19/Ramstein) and Emil Gjerdrum (19/NOR/both Haupt Racing Team) completed the podium in a Ford Mustang GT3. "I never expected this outcome at the start of the weekend. We can only thank the team, as the strategy was unbelievable," said a beaming Fourie, who also won the "Road to DTM" classification. "After the difficult start to the season, I never would have thought that we would now lead the championship at the halfway point. We must now carry this momentum with us and hold onto the lead." Team-mate Zimmermann was pleased with the win and to be top of the table, but was keen to calm the euphoria: "The halfway point means that we still have the second half of the season ahead of us, and a lot can happen. I am very happy with today's result and the points. Everything went perfectly. We did not expect to be so competitive, particularly as the Audi were extremely fast this morning. However, our BMW felt excellent. I tried to find the balance between flat out and looking after the tyres, and the planned worked out nicely."

Pole-sitter Primm retained the lead in his Audi at the start of the 80-minute endurance race, and he extended his lead over Fourie in the BMW to more than seven seconds during his stint. Behind them, Ford racer Emil Gjerdrum slotted into third place. During the first phase of pit stops, HGL Racing and Haupt Racing Team opted for the short stop and took a clear lead together with Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE/Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in a Lamborghini. In contrast, the BMW of FK Performance was given a fresh set of tyres during the first stop. However, Zimmermann soon compensated for the longer time spent in the pits by churning out a series of impressive lap times. "Tim drove a super second stint. I hardly had any tyres left at the end, but the gap to those behind us was big enough to be able to manage it," laughed Fourie, who returned to the track with a significant lead after the second pit stop.

Behind the eventual winner, the second pit stop window really shook up the running order. The two Razoon – more than Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Pavel Lefterov (28/BGR) and Leo Pichler (24/AUT) were initially on course for a podium, as they had also changed tyres during the first driver changeover. However, the tyres paid the price as they wore dramatically in the closing stages, while Primm's Audi and Emil Gjerdrum in a Ford closed in from behind and overtook the two Porsche on fresh tyres. As such, Primm from Großschirma, his partner Rogalski, and the HGL Racing team from Leipzig claimed their first podium in the ADAC GT Masters at their home race at the Dekra Lausitzring. "The race was unbelievably good fun. I was able to open a gap and soon realised that we had the best car today. A thousand thanks to Audi and my team principal Tobias Seyffarth, who made it happen together with our engineers," said a delighted Primm. "When I returned to the track for my final stint, I knew that I would have a good chance to attack the Porsche again on fresh tyres. It was a fair battle, and I am really thrilled with second place at my home race."

Third place - like yesterday - went to Emil Gjerdrum and Reis in a Ford. "I am really happy with this podium. The result shows the potential that we always knew we had," beamed Gjerdrum, who secured third place with an impressive manoeuvre against Lefterov in the closing stages. "That race was unbelievable fun, thanks to the many overtaking manoeuvres, some of which were a bit tight. It was one of my coolest races so far. I believe that both strategies had pros and cons today. However, it looks as though the tyre change at the end was the right decision for us."

Lefterov (28/BGR) and Mark Kastelic (18/SLO) were fourth in the end. Fifth place went to the previous championship leaders Hirsiger and Finn Zulauf (21/Königstein im Taunus/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in a Lamborghini. In sixth place were Jamie Day (20/GBR) and Baudouin Detout (25/FRA/both Comtoyou Racing) in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, followed by Pichler and Colin Bönighausen (21/Isernhagen), who dropped back to seventh in their Porsche. Eighth place went to the BMW duo of Storm Gjerdrum (16/NOR) and Fabio Rauer (19/Stolberg/both FK Performance Motorsport), ahead of fellow BMW racers Sandro and Juliano Holzem (22/Polch/both Schubert Motorsport). Yesterday's winners struggled with technical issues at the start, which saw them drop to the back of the field at times. Completing the top ten were John Paul Southern (24/USA) and Jonas Karklys (36/LIT/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2.

The ADAC GT Masters returns to action in just three weeks. The ADAC's GT3 series will be at the Int. Shell ADAC Truck Grand Prix at the Nürburgring from 10th to 12th July. Last year, roughly 134,000 fans flocked to the spectacle in the Eifel region.