All four young Mücke drivers on the podium. Mattis Pluschkell and Maksymilian Angelard are top Juniors. Exciting Trophy competition won by Thomas Ambiel.
Danny Soufi (21/USA) and Pavel Lefterov (27/BUL, both Konrad Motorsport) won the opening race of this season’s Prototype Cup Germany at Spa-Francorchamps. Soufi stayed in touch with race leader Oscar Tunjo (29/COL, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) during his stint, before Lefterov was able to pass Tunjo’s team-mate Mikkel C. Johansen (37/DEN, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) to take the lead at the start of his turn at the wheel. “It was a last-minute call for me to drive here, and I am really happy with this win. I also have a good teacher in Danny,” said the Bulgarian, who was making his debut in an LMP3 car in the Belgian Ardennes. “I am amazed how good these cars still are, even towards the end of the race,” he determined. Soufi was full of praise for his new team-mate. “Pavel did a great job, particularly as Spa-Francorchamps is definitely not the easiest track on the calendar. I benefitted from being on the inside at the start, but was unable to follow Oscar after that. Compared to Oscar’s Duqueine, our Ligier was at a disadvantage in the top-speed sections.” The BWT Mücke Motorsport youngsters joined the Konrad duo on the podium, with Mattis Pluschkell (20/Elmenhorst) and Maksymilian Angelard (17/POL) coming home second, just ahead of Riccardo Leone Cirelli (17/ITA) and Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen (18/DEN).
Tunjo led at the start of the race and was still running first when he came in for the mandatory pit stop. However, Mikkel C. Johansen was unable to hold onto the lead and ultimately had to settle for fourth place. Fifth across the finish line was the duo of Maxim Dirickx (20/BEL) and Sven Barth (44/Eberbach), whose team Aust Motorsport was making its comeback in the Prototype Cup Germany. Thomas Ambiel (45/Eppingen, Rinaldi Racing) finished sixth and was the top Trophy driver on his return to motor racing. He managed to hold off his Trophy rival Michael Herich (47/Brühl) and his partner Alexzander Kristiansson (25/SWE, both Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) after an enthralling battle that came right down to the final few metres – after 22 laps of racing, Ambiel’s advantage was a mere 0.164 seconds. Keanu Al-Azhari (17/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport) failed to finish after making a mistake on lap 15.
Mattis Pluschkell (runner-up): “My plan was to gain a position at the start, which I did. After that, I opened a gap ahead of the two cars behind me. I think that gap to Riccardo and Keanu was important for us. Unfortunately, I was unable to catch Danny ahead of me, as my car developed a lot of understeer after lap six or seven.”
Maksymilian Angelard (runner-up): “First, I am happy with second place, even if it was not an easy race. I had to cope with a car that was understeering from the start of my stint, which sometimes made it difficult to keep the car on the track. However, Mattis had done a good job and made it up to third place, and I was then able to climb into second.”
Riccardo Leone Cirelli (third): “I was on the outside in the first few turns after the start, and consequently lost two positions. After that, I had to make sure to keep Keanu behind me, which I managed to do.”
Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen (third): “I had a Full Course Yellow phase in my stint, during which I was not able to close the gap. Despite that, I still managed to overtake Mikkel. However, I was no longer able to find a way past my team-mate Maksymilian. I am a bit disappointed with third place, as I believe we could have done even better without the FYC.”
Broadcast times for the 2025 Prototype Cup Germany at Spa-Francorchamps
Sunday, 20th April 2025 09:15 - Race 2 live – youtube.com/adacmotorsports
