Second win of the season for the Porsche duo in ADAC GT4 Germany. Gabriele Piana and Benjamin Sylvestersson finish second in a BMW. Marius Schmid is the best-placed rookie in a Mercedes-AMG.
Denny Berndt (21/Berlin) and Lachlan Robinson (22/AUS, both AVIA W&S Motorsport) are the biggest winners of Sunday's ADAC GT4 Germany race at the Nürburgring. A superb race win not only saw the duo in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 move to the top of the table in the ADAC series, but also take on the role of favourites for this season's remaining two race weekends. Gabriele Piana (39/ITA) and Benjamin Sylvestersson (19/FIN, both FK Performance Motorsport) battled their way to second place in the BMW M4 GT4. Alon Gabbay (22/ISR) and Maximilian Schreyer (17/Marburg, both AVIA W&S Motorsport) in another Porsche completed the podium at the classic in the Eifel region.
It was another entertaining affair at the head of the field in Sunday's race. At the start of the race, it was pole-sitter Philipp Gogollok (20/Bad Homburg, COSY Racing by ESM) who took an early lead in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, followed by Berndt in a Porsche and Hudson Schwartz (17/USA, CRT) in a Toyota GR Supra GT4. However, roughly ten minutes into the race, the Aston Martin was overtaken by first Berndt and then Schwartz. Behind them, Porsche driver Gabbay and Sylvestersson in the BMW ended the first half of the race in fourth and fifth place.
The pit stop window brought about the next changes in position. Piana, who took over from Sylvestersson behind the wheel, came out just ahead of Gogollok's partner Jan Philipp Springob (25/Olpe) and was then immediately able to overtake Lucas Cartelle (18/BEL), who had replaced Schwartz in the Toyota. Maximilian Schreyer, who followed Gabbay at the wheel of the Porsche, found himself ahead of Springob again after the round of stops. A little later, the young driver from Hesse passed Cartelle to take third place. As the race progressed, Cartelle was also overtaken by Springob in the Aston Martin.
While all this was going on, Berndt's partner Lachlan Robinson held a comfortable lead in the second half of the race, and went on to take victory by over four seconds. That also gave him the win in the Junior competition. Behind Piana/Sylvestersson, Gabbay/Schreyer and Gogollok/Springob, looked like taking fifth place, until his Toyota was overtaken on the final lap by the BMW of Luis Moser (18/AUT) and Luca Link (22/Günzburg, both FK Performance Motorsport).
Seventh place went to Roman Fellner-Feldegg (24/Landsberg am Lech) and Marek Böckmann (29/Lautersheim, both Prosport Racing), ahead of fellow Mercedes-AMG drivers Marius Schmid (18/Tengen) and Alex Connor (22/GBR, both BWT Mücke Motorsport). That was enough to give Schmid victory in the Rookie class. Rounding out the top ten were Oskar Dix (20/GBR) and Egor Litvinenko (21, both Wimmer Werk Motorsport, Porsche), and Gianni van de Craats (20/NED) and Victor Nielsen (19/DEN, both FK Performance Motorsport, BMW). The Porsche duo of Jesper Brunoj Jensen (50/DEN) and Laurenz Rühl (20/Friedrichdorf, both Wimmer Werk Motorsport) won the PRO-AM class.
Denny Berndt – winner for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "Our latest win in ADAC GT4 Germany is really a great result. However, as we are heading straight home, we cannot do too much celebrating. It is certainly great to be top of the table at the moment, but that can all change quickly. We are taking it one race at a time and doing our best. Bring on the Sachsenring."
Lachlan Robinson – winner for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "The victory feels really good, particularly as yesterday did not end as we were hoping. Denny did a class job again today, so all I had to do was bring the car home. Which I did."
Gabriele Piana – runner-up for FK Performance Motorsport: "We have been trying all season to get the maximum out of our package. However, in most cases one of our rivals has been faster. As such, I am not particularly happy. The team used a perfect tactic with regard to the pit stop, which allowed me to go on the attack immediately on my outlap."
Benjamin Sylvestersson – runner-up for FK Performance Motorsport: "Second place is a decent end to the weekend. We did our best. My start was really good, but I then found myself stuck in traffic. We had a good pit stop, which allowed us to gain some positions. Gabriele ended the race superbly. And the car felt really good."
Alon Gabbay – third place for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "I am very pleased with the podium. I really put my foot down in my stint. After that, Maxi gave it his all and overtook the Toyota. I could not be happier."
Maximilian Schreyer – third place for AVIA W&S Motorsport: "It is an unbelievable feeling to stand on the podium here at the Nürburgring. The team has worked mega hard for this. Alon was also on fire today. When I climbed into the car, I was immediately able to pass the Toyota. We want to back this performance up at the Sachsenring."
