FK Performance Motorsport wins in the Netherlands with Fourie/Zimmermann. Schubert Motorsport and Holzem twins clinch BMW one-two win. Kalus/Blum in P3 in the Ford Mustang GT3.
They’ve done it again in the ADAC GT Masters: Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen)/Leyton Fourie (20/ZAF/both FK Performance Motorsport) won in Zandvoort – like they did last year. The duo in the BMW M4 GT3 Evo crossed the finish line with a 3.334-second lead over fellow BMW drivers Sandro und Juliano Holzem (21/Polch/both Schubert Motorsport). Third place went to Niklas Kalus (20/Duisburg)/Kiano Blum (19/AUT/both Haupt Racing Team) in the Ford Mustang GT3. “Zandvoort is good to us,” beamed Fourie after his third career win in the ADAC GT Masters. “We knew that our race pace would be good here. Our difficult weekend at the Red Bull Ring was a tough lesson, but I never lost faith in either us or the team and knew that we would make a strong comeback in Zandvoort.” Team-mate Zimmermann was delighted with his fifth win but remained cautious. “Zandvoort has been a good track for us – so far. But that could change at any time. I’m enjoying the moment and our win but am excited to see how things unfold.”
In sweltering conditions, with track temperatures of around 43 degrees Celsius, polesitter Holzem initially retained his lead at the start, but battled with guest starter Alexey Nesov (22/Pure Racing) in the Porsche 911 GT3 R throughout his stint. Before the driver changeover, less than a second separated the two rivals as they pulled away from the rest of the field, ending the stint more than six seconds clear of Kalus, who was heading up the chasing pack. At that stage, the eventual winners were only in sixth place. “I didn’t get off to a good start and lost two places,” described Zimmermann. “Our plan was to preserve the tyres since the race in Zandvoort is won in the second stint. Everyone else was sliding around and pushing to the limit, while I tried to stay calm. The plan worked.”
The pit stops reshuffled the pack once again when both Kalus/Blum and the eventual P4 duo of Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE)/Finn Zulauf (21/Königstein im Taunus/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) were awarded a penalty for not meeting the minimum pit stop time. Fourie found himself back in third place shortly after the driver changeover and wasted no time attacking the Porsche of Pure Rxcing in second place. A safety car period closed up the field again, and Fourie saw his opportunity. He went around the outside of leader Juliano Holzem in turn 1 and took the lead. “I made a bet with a few guys from the team,” laughed Fourie. “Last year I overtook two cars on the outside here, which is why I had to do it at least once this time.”
Second-placed Sandro Holzem summed up: “I had a pretty good stint, and I tried to manage the tyres. We had the pace, and I was able to hand over the car to Juliano with a good lead. Unfortunately, the restart after the safety car was a bit tricky and Fourie overtook straight away. In the closing stages Juliano had a good pace again. Naturally it is a bit disappointing, but P2 is a good result, and tomorrow is a new day on which we can go on the attack again.”
Behind them, Kalus and Blum crossed the finish line in third place despite the penalty and were over the moon with the result. “I’m really happy with this podium because we got everything we could out of today,” explained Kalus. “During my stint the Lamborghini was behind me constantly, and it was fortunate that their pit stop also failed to meet the minimum pit stop time meaning that they stayed behind us. I was really pleased that we still had such good pace compared to our direct rivals at the end of the race.”
Behind the Lamborghini of Zulauf/Hirsiger, three Porsche 911 GT3 R in a row crossed the finish line with Leo Pichler (24/AUT)/Colin Bönighausen (21/Isernhagen/both Razoon - more than Racing), Aliaksandr Malykhin (38/GBR)/Alexey Nesov (22/both Pure Racing), and Mark Kastelic (18/SLO)/Pavel Lefterov (28/BGR/both Razoon - more than Racing) at the wheel. Jan Duran (18/ESP)/Joseph Ellerine (22/ZAF/both FK Performance Motorsport) and their team-mates Storm Gjerdrum (16/NOR)/Fabio Rauer (19/Stolberg) finished in P8 and P9 in their BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Completing the top 10 were Max Cuccarese (19/ITA)/Alain Valente (29/CHE/both Haupt Racing Team) in the second Ford Mustang GT3.
The second qualifying session in Zandvoort gets underway at 08:15 CEST on Sunday and will be broadcast live on Joyn and youtube.com/ADACMotorsports. The race starts at 15:10 CEST and is being shown live on free-to-air TV on Sport1. There will also be a recap of Saturday’s race ahead of the thrilling live action. The race will also be streamed on Joyn, ServusTV On, and YouTube.
