Robinson and Berndt claim first victory of the season for Porsche and win Junior competition. AVIA W&S team-mates Gabbay and Schreyer narrowly miss out on victory. First podium of 2026 for Toyota duo Cartelle and Schwartz.
Big celebrations in the Porsche camp after Saturday's ADAC GT4 Germany race at the Norisring. Denny Berndt (21/Berlin) and Lachlan Robinson (22/AUS) won an entertaining and action-packed race ahead of their AVIA W&S Motorsport team-mates Alon Gabbay (22/ISR) and Maximilian Schreyer (17/Marburg). Porsche became the third manufacturer to taste victory in the third race of the season, following wins for BMW and Aston Martin earlier in the season. Lucas Cartelle (18/BEL) and Hudson Schwartz (17/USA, both CRT) completed the Norisring podium in a Toyota GR Supra GT4. Berndt and Robinson had a second cause for celebration: they now top the table for the first time in their ADAC GT4 Germany careers.
Robinson started the race from pole position in his 718 Cayman GT4, and the Australian was initially able to open a small gap ahead of the rest of the field. Only fellow Porsche racer Schreyer was able to stay in touch. Record ADAC GT4 Germany winner Gabriele Piana (39/ITA) was also looking strong in the first half of the race. The FK Performance Motorsport driver climbed into third place from sixth on the grid in a BMW M4 GT4. However, Piana was unable to trouble the two leading Porsche.
Following the mandatory pit stop and driver changeover, the front three positions initially remained the same. However, Benjamin Sylvestersson (19/FIN), who had taken over from Piana in the BMW, then upped the pace and put pressure on Gabbay, who had replaced Schreyer behind the wheel. Sylvestersson eventually took second place with a remarkable manoeuvre, outbraking Gabbay on the way into the hairpin. He then gradually closed in on race leader Denny Berndt, who had taken over from Robinson in the cockpit. However, there was to be a setback for the Finn on the penultimate lap. A puncture stopped him in his tracks and resulted in him dropping back to ninth place. That left Berndt and Robinson to take a comfortable win and victory in the Junior classification. Behind Gabbay, Toyota driver Hudson Schwartz crossed the finish line in third place. Schwartz and his team-mate Cartelle were involved in countless battles throughout the entire race, and were made to fight hard for the first podium for their Belgian team CRT.
Luis Moser (17/AUT) and Luca Link (22/Günzburg, both FK Performance Motorsport) ended the race in fourth place in another BMW, ahead of Roman Fellner-Feldegg (24/Landsberg am Lech) and Marek Böckmann (29/Lautersheim, both Prosport Racing) in a Mercedes-AMG GT4, and Linus Hahne (22/Oelde) and Philip Wiskirchen (21/Euskirchen, both ME Motorsport, BMW). Seventh place went to Gianni van de Craats (20/NED) and Victor Nielsen (19/DEN, both FK Performance Motorsport, BMW), BMW), followed by Jan Philipp Springob (25/Olpe) and Philipp Gogollok (20/Bad Homburg, both COSY Racing by ESM) in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. Marius Schmid (18/Tengen) and Alex Connor (22/GBR, both BWT Mücke Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG) completed the top ten. That was enough to earn Schmid victory in the Rookie classification. Jesper Brunoj Jensen (50/DEN) and Laurenz Rühl (19/Friedrichdorf, both Wimmer Werk Motorsport) won the PRO-AM class in a Porsche.
Lachlan Robinson – winner for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "I could not be happier. We obviously all come here to win. But we have actually done it this time. We are thrilled with the result, and will give it our all to be out in front again tomorrow."
Denny Berndt – winner for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "It is obviously great to win here. We will celebrate together a little this evening. We then start Sunday's race from the front row again, and want to back up today's win. Hopefully, we can get another good result."
Maximilian Schreyer – runner-up for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "The result feels mega. The Norisring is one of my favourite circuits - driving here is always special. The race went really well for us. We were also a little fortunate when the BMW dropped back shortly before the finish. On the whole, we are really happy with our performance."
Alon Gabbay – runner-up for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "It is my first podium at the Norisring. I have really waited a long time for this. As such, everything is extremely emotional for me. I start from pole position tomorrow, when we will be looking to win."
Lucas Cartelle – third place for CRT: "A podium always feels good, particularly as we had a bad start to the season at the Red Bull Ring. We have now scored some good points for the championship. Hopefully, we can get our next podium in Sunday's race."
Hudson Schwartz – third place for CRT: "Lucas was excellent in the first half of the race. When I got into the car, I was focussed on closing the gap to the cars ahead of me. We are obviously super happy with third place. Thank you to Toyota and our team."
