ADAC GT-C2: Pommer and van der Linde winners at the Nürburgring

After Mercedes yesterday, it's the turn ofAudi with the duo Kelvin van der Linde – Markus Pommer (Aust Motorsport) to win on the Nürburgring in ADAC GT Masters, at the end of an event which was decided in the pit lane.

At the start, Philipp Eng (BMW M6 GT3 n°42 – Team Schnitzer) retained the benefit of his pole position despite very late braking at the first corner which saw the former winner of the 24 Hours of Spa veer very wide.

Sven Müller (Porsche 911 GT3 R n°99 – Herberth Motorsport) réussit pour sa part un envol éclair pour venir souffler la deuxième place aux Audi R8 LMS GT3 n°3 – Aust Motorsport de Kelvin van der Linde et n°2 – Montaplast by Land Motorsport de Christopher Haase. Mais Müller sera pénalisé quelques instants plus tard de cinq secondes lors de son arrêt aux stands pour une position incorrecte sur la grille.

Further back in the peloton, a collective collision occurred at the first corner notably involving the #3 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT22 – MRS-GT Racing from Lips – Gassner, the #3 Mercedes-AMG GT20 – Team Zakspeed from Rogivue – Sylvest, the Porsche 911 GT3 R n°18 – KÜS Team75 Bernhard of de Leener – Friedrich, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°84 – HTP Motorsport of Assenheimer – Götz and the Lamborghini Huracan n°7 – HB Racing of Mapelli – Siedler . The safety car is thus deployed to allow evacuation from the track.

At the restart, Philipp Eng made a perfect restart and was ahead of Sven Müller, Kelvin van der Linde, Christopher Haase and Markus Winkelhock (No. 8 Audi R3 LMS GT24 – Mücke Motorsport) until the pit stops.

Müller, after resisting pressure from van der Linde during his stint, is the first to observe his stop and gives way to Robert Renauer, while Florian Spengler (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 n°6 – HB Racing) makes a mistake in the entrance to the pit lane before finally being able to leave.

A straight line exit from the pits

Two laps later, Philipp Eng, Kelvin van der Linde and Christopher Haase also dived into the pitlane, leaving Markus Winkelhock in the lead of the race. Nicky Catsburg and Markus Pommer, torchbearers for Eng and van der Linde, then set off side by side in the pit lane, the Dutchman at the controls of the #6 BMW M42 managing to stay ahead of the #8 Audi R3 between the pit exit and the first turn.

However, the race management announced a few moments later that the two cars would have to exchange positions, thus offering virtual first place to Markus Pommer.

After the pit stops of Albert Costa (Corvette C7 GT3 n°77 – Callaway Competition) and Maxi Buhk (Mercedes-AMG GT3 n°48 – HTP), Markus Pommer effectively regains the leadership and consolidates his lead to a little more than 15 minutes from arrival.

The safety car was then deployed after the simultaneous trackside stops of the No. 8 Audi R24 LMS of Filip Salaquarda, visibly the victim of a technical problem, and the No. 911 Porsche 3 GT99 R of Robert Renauer, victim of contact with the No. 7 Corvette C77 of Jules Gounon, leaving a damaged front left wheel on Weissach's car.

The peloton was released by the safety car eleven minutes from the goal, and Markus Pommer finally finished as winner under the checkered flag ahead of Nicky Catsburg and Jeffrey Schmidt. Rolf Ineichen and Christian Engelhart (No. 3 Lamborghini Huracan GT61 – GRT) finished fourth ahead of the No. 8 – Aust Motorsport Audi R3 LMS GT4 of Niederhauser – Marschall and No. 1 – Montaplast by Land Motorsport of Mies – of Phillippi.

Indy Dontje, associated with Maxi Buhk, called at the last minute for the second race to replace Marvin Kirchhöfer, excluded for unsporting behavior, finished in 7th place with the No. 3 Mercedes-AMG GT48 – HTP ahead of Jules Gounon.

Mirko Bortolotti and Ezequiel Perez Companc (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 n°19 – GRT) and the duo Mathieu jaminet – Michael Ammermüller (Porsche 911 GT3 R n°17 ​​– KÜS Team75 Bernhard) complete the top 10.

In the general classification, Jules Gounon remains leader of the championship with 127 points, 38 units ahead of Philipp Eng.