One Apiece For Ford And BMW.
Race 1
Spa-Francorchamps lived up to its reputation for capricious weather as the Belgian Formula 1 track staged its first ever ADAC GT Masters weekend in mid-May.
Race 1 started on a dry surface, but after the first twenty minutes, there was a heavy downpour, which made for difficult conditions on one of the world’s most challenging circuits. The Lambda Performance duo of Nico Verdonck and Frank Kechele were undismayed, steering their Ford GT to a comfortable victory over defending champion Maximilian Götz and Maximilian Buhk in the Polarweiss Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
Third place went to the Dutch partnership of Simon Knap and Jeroen den Boer in a BMW Z4 entered by DB Motorsport. “After having been on pole position for six previous ADAC GT Masters races, it’s nice to have got that first win at last, “ said a jubilant Frank Kechele. “I hope there will be many more victories to come this year.” Kechele has now claimed his first Super Sports Car League winner’s trophy in 61 attempts.
The race was controlled from start to finish by Verdonck and Kechele. Initially, pole-sitter Verdonck was unable to shake off the BMW Z4 of challenger Simon Knap, but a shower of rain after about twenty minutes changed matters. The leading Ford team executed an extremely speedy change of drivers and tyres in the mandatory pit stop, and when Kechele completed the first lap of the second stint, his Ford was more than 18 seconds ahead of the BMW Z4.
In the second half of the race, it was no longer the Dutch pair of Knap and den Boer in their BMW who were in contention for second place, but rather Maximilian Götz in his Mercedes Benz. The defending champion had overtaken the BMW in the pit lane after a faster pit stop and held on for P2 and his first podium finish of the season.
However, this was by no means a cruise to victory for Verdonck and Kechele. Ten minutes before the end, Kechele briefly spun off track, but was able to right his car with a loss of only five seconds. The Lambda Performance outfit claimed their first ever ADAC GT Masters victory in Verdonck’s home race by a seven-second margin. “After having been on pole position for six previous ADAC GT Masters races, it’s nice to have got that first win at last,” said a jubilant Frank Kechele. “I hope there will be many more victories to come this year. Until late last night, the team were practising pit stops, and today that has really paid off.”
“That was fantastic,” said a delighted Verdonck. “Things really couldn’t have gone any better in my home race. Starting from pole certainly made life easier, but we also saw today how treacherous the conditions in Spa can be. The team did an amazing job with the pit stop.”
There was a hard-fought battle in the closing stage for fourth place. René Rast produced a strong performance in the wet in the Prosperia-C Abt Audi, putting fourth-placed Jörg Müller in the Team Schubert BMW Z4 under sustained pressure. The scrap came to an unhappy end, with contact between the two vehicles. Rast spun round and conceded fourth place to the Polarweiss Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driven by Andreas Simonsen and Sergey Afanasiev, while Müller was obliged to park his car with a shredded tyre. Rahel Frey had the satisfaction of posting her best result to date in the ADAC GT Masters; the former DTM driver from Switzerland and her co-driver FIA GT1 World Champion Markus Winkelhock completing a strong charge up the field to finish in sixth place after having started from 20th on the grid.
René Bourdeaux achieved his second amateur championship victory in a row at Spa-Francorchamps. Bourdeaux, in the Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3, took the win from ADAC GT Masters newcomer Paul Green in the Vita4One Racing Team BMW Z4. Despite two drive-through penalties for infringing pit stop regulations, Christina Nielsen brought the Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911 home in third place.
Race 2
The rollercoaster track at Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian Ardennes was no easier a proposition for the drivers in Sunday’s race than it had been on Saturday. Rain at the beginning and a drying surface towards the end complicated matters, but coping best with the changing conditions were the Team Schubert pairing of Claudia Hürtgen and Dominik Baumann in their BMW Z4. The duo wrapped up their first victory of the season after a ding-dong battle with the Polarweiss Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driven by Maximilian Buhk and defending champion Maximilian Götz.
The two Dutchman, Simon Knap and Jeroen den Boer came third in another BMW Z4, this time entered by DB Motorsport, to claim their second podium of the weekend.
“With the changeable conditions towards the end of the race, our BMW was unbeatable today,” said a visibly delighted Claudia Hürtgen, after notching up her fourth ADAC GT Masters race victory. “This victory is a perfect platform for the 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring next weekend.”
The first half of the race was dominated by a prolonged safety car period. A racing incident between Mario Farnbacher in a Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911 and René Rast in a Prosperia C Abt Audi R8 sent Rast into a spin on the approach to the Raidillon summit. BMW driver Jörg Müller was unable to avoid a collision with the almost stationary Audi, and immediately the safety car was deployed. Rast was taken to hospital after the accident for a check-up, while Müller was able to walk away.
Race leader at this point was Mercedes-Benz driver Maximilian Götz who had outbraked the equally quick-off-the-mark BMW of Dominik Baumann on the first corner. The safety car eventually came in after 20 minutes, and not long before the pit stop window opened. The order at the front remained unchanged after the driver changeover, with Buhk ahead of Hürtgen. But with a drying track, the BMW was gradually closing the gap. Ten minutes before the end of the race, Hürtgen exploited a mistake by Buhk to seize the lead. The Mercedes-Benz driver was no longer able to respond as Hürtgen built up a lead of seven seconds to win her home race. “I was getting the measure of Buhk in the second half of the race, and it became apparent to me that our BMW was indeed faster in these difficult conditions,” said Hürtgen. “I was able to increase my speed with every lap and I also avoided making any mistakes. That was the decisive factor.”
“Right from the off, I realised that our car performs brilliantly in mixed conditions,” said Baumann after recording his maiden ADAC GT Masters win. “With the track gradually drying out, we decided not to change to slicks, and that was the right decision.”
Andreas Simonsen and Sergey Afanasiev in the second Polarweiss Racing Mercedes-Benz topped off a solid team performance, finishing in fourth position behind the Dutch duo of Knap and den Boer. The best-placed Porsche on the day was the Tonino by Herberth Motorsport 911 driven by Robert Renauer and Martin Ragginger; they crossed the line in fifth position ahead of the Vita4One Racing Team BMW Z4 driven by Yelmer Buurman and Martin Matzke.
Meanwhile, Nico Verdonck and Frank Kechele were not having quite as much joy as on Saturday when they won the first race of the weekend in their Ford GT. Even though the track was still damp, the Lambda Performance duo opted for slicks. But the track wasn’t drying quite fast enough for their gamble to succeed and they paid the price by finishing back in ninth.
Paul Green of the Vita4One Racing Team has cause for satisfaction after his first outing in the Super Sports Car League. After securing a podium finish in the Gentlemen class on Saturday, Green claimed the winner’s trophy in Sunday’s Race 2. The BMW driver overtook Christina Nielsen on the last lap to relegate her to the runner-up spot. Corvette man Toni Seiler completed the podium party.
Race 1 result – here
Race 2 result – here
The next round of the ADAC GT Masters takes place on June 7th-9th at the Sachsenring.
