Jamie Day and Baudouin Detout claim a commanding first win in the ADAC GT Masters. Kalus and Blum win the "Road to DTM" competition at the Nürburgring. Close title race: Just one point separates Hirsiger/Zulauf and Zimmermann/Fourie.
Celebrations for Comtoyou Racing from Belgium: the ADAC GT Masters newcomers won race two at the Nürburgring. Jamie Day (20/GBR) and Baudouin Detout (25/FRA) produced a commanding display in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, and crossed the finish line with a 3.806-second lead. This is the first victory in the series since 2012 for the British car manufacturer. Like yesterday, second place went to Niklas Kalus (21/Duisburg) and Kiano Blum (19/AUT/both Haupt Racing Team) in a Ford Mustang GT3, ahead of guest starters Enrico Förderer (19/Leuterod) and Jay Mo Härtling (23/Sprockhövel/both SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm) in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. "I am so pleased for the team, and wish to thank them and Aston Martin for this win. The car was really super," beamed Detout after his first victory in the ADAC GT Masters. "Those last few laps were the longest of my life. I just tried not to put too much pressure on myself, and not to let the emotions get the upper hand." Team-mate Day also celebrated his first success in the ADAC's GT3 series: "I am extremely happy. The team has worked so hard from the start of the season, and that has unfortunately not always been reflected in the results. Pole position and the win today - it could not have gone any better."
Starting from pole position in around 30 degrees and glorious sunshine, Day immediately took the lead and consistently pulled away from the chasing pack. Comtoyou Racing decided on a late pit stop and waited until the end of the window to bring him in for the driver changeover. Detout carried on where his team-mate left off, maintaining a consistent advantage over second place. Behind the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, it looked for all the world as though the Ford of Blum and Kalus was guaranteed to finish runner-up after a good start - until it struggled more and more with the tyres. Förderer in the Mercedes and Leo Pichler (24/AUT/Razoon - More than Racing) in the Porsche were closing in on the Ford all the time. However, they were embroiled in a battle for third place, which ultimately gave Kalus the space required to bring home second place. "I am very happy with the outcome of the race, and the weekend in general," said a happy Blum. "Second place on the grid is not necessarily an advantage here, but I managed to hold onto the position at the start. It very soon became clear to us that we were not going to catch the Aston Martin today. With that in mind, I tried to manage the tyres and give them to Niklas in as good a state as possible. It was really close again towards the end, but fortunately we had done enough." Blum and Kalus also took victory in the "Road to DTM" competition at the Nürburgring, thanks to their two podiums, which also saw them climb into third place in the overall standings.
Behind them, there was immense joy among the guest starters from SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm, who finished third. Förderer, who was making his debut in a GT3 car at the Nürburgring, was particularly pleased with the podium on his first ADAC GT Masters weekend. "It is impossible to describe how it feels to have finished on the podium at the first attempt. The team did a super job, as the car felt very good and I really felt very comfortable," said the reigning ADAC GT4 Germany champion. "I was actually aiming to gain another position, but that made it really close behind me. The Porsche was really pushing, but fortunately I was able to hang onto the position." Pichler and Alexander Tauscher (23/Mitterfels/both Razoon - more than Racing) were fourth.
Title race rarely been so close
Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen) and Leyton Fourie (20/ZAF/both FK Performance Motorsport) came home fifth in a BMW M4 GT3 Evo. They leave the Eifel region trailing Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE) and Finn Zulauf (21/Königstein im Taunus/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) by just one point. The championship leaders endured a difficult race in their Lamborghini, and failed to finish higher than ninth.
In a sensational sixth place, and winners in the Pro-AM class, were Gerhard Tweraser (37/AUT) and Gottfried Grasser (47/AUT/both GRT Grasser Racing Team). Regulations meant the Pro-AM team benefitted from a shorter stop, and Grasser returned to the track in fourth place. The DTM team principal was unable to prevent two cars from overtaking him, but did hold off the approaching Ford Mustang GT3 of Max Reis (19/Ramstein) and Emil Gjerdrum (19/NOR/both Haupt Racing Team) for the rest of the race. Eighth place went to Storm Gjerdrum (16/NOR) and Fabio Rauer (19/Stolberg/both FK Performance Motorsport) in another BMW. Behind the Lamborghini of the championship leaders, Robin Rogalski (25/POL) and Simon Connor Primm (21/Großschirma/both HGL Racing) completed the top ten in an Audi.
The ADAC GT Masters now heads into an eight-week summer break. It then returns to action with the penultimate round of the season at the Salzburgring from 4th to 6th September. This will be the second time the circuit on the outskirts of Mozart's city will have hosted the series, and there is great excitement ahead of the race weekend at the 4.255-kilometre track.
