Fourth win of the season for Enrico Förderer and Jay Mo Härtling. Second place again for Gabriele Piana and Berkay Besler. Victory in the rookie competition for Cedric Fuchs.
“Four in a row” is the motto for Mercedes-AMG GT4 drivers Enrico Förderer (18/Leuterod) and Jay Mo Härtling (22/Sprockhövel). The duo from SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm has contested four races so far in ADAC GT4 Germany – and tasted victory in all four. As a result, they now hold a healthy lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship in ADAC GT4 Germany. Förderer and Härtling won Sunday’s race at the Norisring by more than 5.5 seconds, ahead of Gabriele Piana (38/ITA) and Berkay Besler (25/TUR, both FK Performance Motorsport) in a BMW M4 GT4. Oskar Lind Kristensen (19/DNK) and Lachlan Robinson (21/AUS, both AVIA W&S Motorsport), in a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, joined them on the podium for the first time in their ADAC GT4 Germany career. As such, the top three places were occupied by three different manufacturers for the second time in a row.
Härtling started the race from pole position and skilfully defended his lead against BMW racer Piana. Kristensen also guided his Porsche to third place in the first half of the race. The leading trio waited until the end of the mandatory pit stop window to change drivers. Förderer, who had taken over from Härtling, then went on to claim a commanding win, which also meant victory in the Junior competition for the winning pair. Piana’s partner Besler held onto second place.
In contrast, the battle for third place was an exciting one. Mercedes-AMG driver Cedric Fuchs (19/Holzappel, Motorsport by Schnitzelalm) piled the pressure on Robinson, who had just taken over from Kristensen at the wheel. Third place changed hands on several occasions, with the battle producing some remarkable overtaking manoeuvres. In the end, Robinson was able to call on all his experience to come out on top. Fuchs and his team-mate Joel Mesch (20/Erkelenz) eventually ended the race in fifth place, as Porsche driver Denny Berndt (20/Berlin), who lined up alongside Max Rosam (20/Taunusstein, both Razoon - more than Racing), benefitted from the scrap ahead of him and took fourth position in the final few metres. Despite this, Fuchs could still console himself with victory in the rookie competition.
Sixth place went to Maximilian Tarillion (20/Vienna) and Victor Nielsen (18/DNK, both Razoon - xAutomotive Racing), ahead of Philip Wiskirchen (20/Euskirchen) and Tim Reiter (26/Ostfildern, both ME Motorsport), and the pairing of Niels Tröger (22/Dresden) and Andreas Jochimsen (27/DNK, both FK Performance Motorsport). Linus Hahne (21/Oelde) and ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Thomas Rackl (17/Berching, both ME Motorsport, all BMW) came home ninth. Rounding out the top ten were Raphael Rennhofer (18/AUT) and Emil Heyerdahl (22/NOR, both Wimmer Werk Motorsport) in a Porsche.
Enrico Förderer – winner for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm: “Four wins in four races is unbelievable. It is just awesome what the whole team is doing. My stint was really quiet. I took over the car in first place and brought it home in first place. There were no problems – so, everything was super!”
Jay Mo Härtling – winner for SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm: “Everything came together. We are more than proud to have claimed our fourth win in four races. I had to defend my position a bit at the start. It was all about remaining 100 percent focussed at all times – which was extremely important. Enrico then did a great job of wrapping up the win.”
Gabriele Piana – second place for FK Performance Motorsport: “I had a good start and was immediately able to climb from third to second place. However, the leading car was too far ahead for us today, which is frustrating. Let’s see how things go at the Nürburgring next time out. We will definitely give it our all.”
Berkay Besler – second place for FK Performance Motorsport: “I am obviously pleased with the podium and hope we can make it onto the very top step at the next race weekend. We are pushing as hard as we can out on the track. I would like to thank the team, Gabriele and BMW for their support. I am already looking forward to the Nürburgring.”
Lachlan Robinson – third place for AVIA W&S Motorsport: “I had a great battle in the final few laps, and it was very tough to hold onto the position. We kept overtaking each other, but I ultimately managed to keep my nose in front. I am very happy with the podium. Oscar did an excellent job at the start of the race.”
Oskar Lind Kristensen – third place for AVIA W&S Motorsport: “I am just incredibly happy with my first podium in ADAC GT4 Germany. We had a fantastic race and knew beforehand that we would be quick. I was able to climb into third place, and Lachlan brought the podium home.”
