Mercedes-AMG duo win twice at opening round of this season’s ADAC GT4 Germany. Local favourite Hugo Sasse on the podium on both days. Well-matched field with cars from three manufacturers in the top three.

Two races and two wins: Enrico Förderer (18/Leuterod) and Jay Mo Härtling (22/Sprockhövel, both SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm) enjoyed the perfect start to the season in ADAC GT4 Germany at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. After winning Saturday’s race in their Mercedes-AMG GT4, they also triumphed in the Sunday race and now travel to the second race weekend, at the Norisring at the start of July, as championship leaders. Second place went to local favourite Hugo Sasse (21/Aschersleben) and Roman Fellner-Feldegg (22/Landsberg am Lech, both Prosport Racing) in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, ahead of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 duo of Raphael Rennhofer (18/AUT) and Emil Heyerdahl (22/NOR, both Wimmer Werk Motorsport). All six drivers had also featured on the podium on Saturday.

Marek Böckmann (28/Lautersheim, Prosport Racing) started the race from pole position. However, it was team-mate Fellner-Feldegg who made the better start and moved into the lead in turn one. Härtling climbed into third in the first corner – but it was not long before the Mercedes-AMG driver was piling the pressure on Böckmann ahead of him. With roughly twelve minutes of the race remaining, he pulled off a remarkable manoeuvre to overtake the Aston Martin. Shortly thereafter, he took full advantage of a mistake from race leader Fellner-Feldegg and moved to the front of the field. Meanwhile, Emil Heyerdahl followed the leading trio in the best-placed Porsche.

The order remained the same until the pit stop window opened. After the driver changeover, Härtling’s partner Förderer took over at the front, pursued by Hugo Sasse, who had replaced Fellner-Feldegg at the wheel. The crew at Wimmer Werk Motorsport produced a perfect stop, allowing Heyerdahl’s team-mate Rennhofer to pass Anton Paul Abée (27/Hamburg) and take third place. Abée had taken over from Böckmann at the wheel of the Aston Martin.

The second half of the race saw Sasse close in on race leader Förderer, but he was unable to launch an overtaking manoeuvre. Förderer went on to take a relatively comfortable victory. Together with team-mate Härtling, he also won the Junior competition. Sasse crossed the finish line in second place, which meant victory in the Rookie classification for his partner Fellner-Feldegg. Behind Heyerdahl and Rennhofer, Cedric Fuchs (19/Holzappel) and Joel Mesch (20/Erkelenz) came home fourth in the second Mercedes-AMG of SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm.

Fifth place went to Hendrik Still (37/Kempenich) and Philipp Gogollok (19/Bad Homburg, both AVIA W&S Motorsport) in a Porsche. Abée ended the race in sixth place. Linus Hahne (21/Oelde) and ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Thomas Rackl (17/Berching, both ME Motorsport) were seventh, ahead of the pairings of Gabriele Piana (38/ITA) and Berkay Besler (25/TUR, both FK Performance Motorsport), and Maximilian Tarillion (20/Vienna) and Victor Nielsen (18/DNK, both Razoon - xAutomotive Racing, all BMW). Rounding out the top ten were Denny Berndt (20/Berlin) and Max Rosam (20/Taunusstein, both Razoon - more than Racing) in a Porsche.

Enrico Förderer – winner for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm: “Jay Mo handed me a perfect car, the Pirelli tyres were still in top condition. When Hugo Sasse behind me tried to close the gap a little, I upped my pace and managed the lead. That was good enough. We now travel to the Norisring as championship leaders. It feels incredible, but we will not rest on our laurels.”

Jay Mo Härtling – winner for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm: “The start was very good, as I was immediately able to overtake a Porsche. After that, I had such good pace that I was soon able to put pressure on the two Aston Martins. I quickly overtook Marek Böckmann. He acted very fairly. The other Aston Martin had an unfortunate situation and I, similar to yesterday, was able to take advantage. After that, I handed the car over to Enrico. He did an awesome job and brought home the win.”

Hugo Sasse – second place for Prosport Racing: “We obviously want to win the race, but I am really happy with second place. I gave it my all, but unfortunately the Mercedes-AMG was just a tick faster than us today. We must now look into why that was the case. All the same, we finished on the podium twice this weekend – we would never have dreamed of that beforehand.”

Roman Fellner-Feldegg – third place for Prosport Racing: “I took the lead right at the start. I was a bit nervous after that and made a slight mistake. However, I know that that will not happen to me again in the future. I am becoming stronger with every race and coping better with the car. As such, I am already excited about the Norisring.”

Emil Heyerdahl – third place for Wimmer Werk Motorsport: “We really did not expect to be so far at the front of the field so early in the season. As such, we are more than satisfied. We now know that we have a good package for the full season. I can hardly wait to travel to the Norisring.”

Raphael Rennhofer – third place for Wimmer Werk Motorsport: “It was a perfect start to the season for us. We got the maximum out of both races. The car was mega again today. Emil also did an excellent job. He handed the Porsche over to me in fourth place, then we had a super stop, which allowed us to finish P3.”