KLETTWITZ, Germany — Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen) and Leyton Fourie (20/ZAF/both FK Performance Motorsport) dominated the second ADAC GT Masters race at the Dekra Lausitzring, winning by a commanding 5.574 seconds.
With their second win of the season, the BMW drivers took over the championship lead and are the mid-season champions. Local hero Simon Connor Primm (21) from Großschirma and Robin Rogalski (25/POL/both HGL Racing) secured second place in their Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2.
Max Reis (19/Ramstein) and Emil Gjerdrum (19/NOR/both Haupt Racing Team) completed the podium in their Ford Mustang GT3.
“I never would have expected this outcome when we started the weekend. We can only thank the team, because the strategy was incredible,” beamed Fourie, who also won the “Road to DTM” classification. “I wouldn’t have believed we’d be top of the table at the halfway point after our difficult start to the season. We have to carry this momentum forward and maintain our lead.”
Teammate Zimmermann was pleased with the top spot and the victory, but tempered the euphoria: “Halfway through the season means we still have the second half ahead of us and anything can happen. I’m very happy with today’s result and the points. Everything went perfectly. We didn’t expect to be so competitive, especially since the Audi was extremely fast this morning. But our BMW felt fantastic. I tried to find the balance between going full throttle and conserving the tires, and the plan worked.”
At the start of the 80-minute endurance race, polesitter Primm in his Audi held the lead and extended his advantage over Fourie in the BMW to more than seven seconds during his stint. Ford driver Emil Gjerdrum moved into third place behind them.
During the first pit stop phase, HGL Racing and the Haupt Racing Team opted for the short stop and, together with Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE/Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in the Lamborghini, took a commanding lead. The FK Performance BMW, on the other hand, received fresh tires during its first stop, but Zimmermann compensated for the longer pit stop time with a string of strong lap times.
“Tim drove a superb second stint. I hardly had any tires left at the end, but the gap to the cars behind was big enough to manage,” laughed Fourie, who rejoined the track with a significant lead after the second pit stop.
Behind the eventual winner, the second pit stop period shook up the field considerably. Initially, the two Razoon – more than Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Rs of Pavel Lefterov (28/BGR) and Leo Pichler (24/AUT) were on course for a podium finish, having also changed tires during the first driver change.
However, in the final stages, they succumbed to the degrading tires, while Primm in the Audi and Emil Gjerdrum in the Ford closed in from behind and, with their fresh tires, overtook both Porsches. Thus, Primm from Großschirma and his HGL Racing team from Leipzig, along with Rogalski, celebrated their first podium finish in the ADAC GT Masters at their home race at the Dekra Lausitzring.
“The race was incredibly fun. I was able to build a lead and quickly realized that we had the best car today. A huge thank you to Audi and my team principal Tobias Seyffarth, who, together with our engineers, made this possible,” beamed Primm. “When I came back onto the track for my final stint, I knew that with the fresh tires I would have a good chance of attacking the Porsche again. It was a fair duel and I am absolutely delighted with second place at my home race.”
Third place – as on the previous day – went to Emil Gjerdrum and Reis in the Ford.
“I’m really happy with this podium. The result shows the potential we always knew we had,” beamed Gjerdrum, who secured third place against Lefterov with a strong maneuver at the end. “This race was incredibly fun with so many overtaking maneuvers, some of them close. It was one of my coolest races so far. I think both strategies had advantages and disadvantages today. But it looks like the tire change at the end was the right decision for us.”
Lefterov (28/BGR)/Mark Kastelic (18/SLO) finished fourth. Fifth place went to the previous championship leaders Hirsiger/Finn Zulauf (21/Königstein im Taunus/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in their Lamborghini. Jamie Day (20/GBR)/Baudouin Detout (25/FRA/both Comtoyou Racing) finished sixth in their Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, ahead of Pichler/Colin Bönighausen (21/Isernhagen), who dropped back to seventh in their Porsche.
Eighth place went to the BMW duo Storm Gjerdrum (16/NOR)/Fabio Rauer (19/Stolberg/both FK Performance Motorsport), ahead of their fellow BMW drivers Sandro and Juliano Holzem (22/Polch/both Schubert Motorsport).
The previous day’s winners had struggled with technical difficulties at the start and consequently dropped to the back of the field for a time. The top 10 was completed by John Paul Southern (24/USA)/Jonas Karklys (36/LIT/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2.