Race 1
Saturday’s race of the Prototype Cup Germany at the DEKRA Lausitzring saw Berkay Besler and Marvin Dienst take the win in their Toksport WRT Ligier JS P320 ahead of the Konrad Ginetta G61-LT-P3 duo Axcil Jefferies and Maximilian Hackländer.
Gary Hauser and Sebastian von Gartzen completed the podium in the Racing Experience Duqueine D08.
Ginetta driver Jefferies started the first wet race in the history of the series from pole position. In a turbulent start phase, however, von Gartzen in Duqueine briefly took over the lead. However, the Racing Experience driver missed the first corner and dropped back to fifth position. Donar Munding also got off to a good start in the Muehlner Motorsport Duqueine, passed pole setter Jefferies and retained the lead. He pulled away from the front of the field as the race progressed. However, after around eight minutes of racing, Munding slipped into the gravel trap on the wet track, dropping him to fifth place.
Jefferies took the lead from Rinaldi racing Duqueine driver Oscar Tunjo. Behind them, Berkay Besler attacked in the Ligier. Having started from eighth position, he fought his way up the field one by one. Just as the first quarter of the race was over, he overtook Gartzen, who was now back in third position, and went in pursuit of the two leaders. “After qualifying was quite difficult for me, things went a lot better in the race. I was able to make up five places, which made me very happy,” summarized Besler. The Turk drove to the pit stop as the first in the leading group and handed the car over to his teammate Marvin Dienst, who had previously completed the ADAC GT Masters race.
However, for Maximilian Hackländer, who took over the leading Ginetta from Jefferies, the second part of the race did not start according to plan. A slip in the gravel and a little later a spin on the wet track saw him drop back to third place behind Mateo Villagomez, Oscar Tunjo’s teammate at Rinaldi Racing, and also behind Dienst.
The second part of the race was then shaped by Marvin Dienst. First, he overtook Villagomez and thus took the lead. With continued fast lap times, he then built up a lead of over 33 seconds and was the first to cross the finish line. “Today was the first time I drove an LMP3 in the rain,” said Dienst. “Since I had previously competed in the ADAC GT Masters race in wet track conditions, I knew roughly where I had to be particularly careful. That certainly helped me a little. In contrast to free practice, I wasn’t able to test the limit in the race. But gradually I found my rhythm and was able to drive faster and faster.” In addition to the overall victory, Besler/ Dienst were also happy about the success in the junior classification.
Meanwhile a fight for second position developed between Hackländer and Villagomez, which the German ultimately won. Villagomez also had to let Gary Hauser pass him on the last lap, who took third place together with his teammate Sebastian von Gartzen. Fifth place went to Leonard Weiss and Torsten Kratz in their WTM Racing Duqueine, which also meant victory for Kratz in the Trophy classification. Sixth place went to the Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport Duqueine of Jesse Salmenautio and Sebastian Arenram . Donar Munding, who was initially leading, and Matthias Lüthen took seventh place ahead of the Ginetta duo Jacob Erlbacher and Michael Lyons from Gebhardt Motorsport.
Race 2
Mühlner Motorsport’s Matthias Lüthen and Donar Munding won an exciting second race of the Prototype Cup Germany at the DEKRA Lausitzring. Munding also won the Junior classification and Lüthen the Trophy classification with the result also the first Series win for a Duqueine.
Second place went to another D08, Rinaldi racing’s Oscar Tunjo and Mateo Villagomez beating off the challenge from Championship leaders Berkay Besler and Marvin Dienst in their Toksport WRT Ligier JS P320.
Ligier driver Dienst started the race from pole position and pulled away at the front of the field immediately after the start. He was followed by the two Ginetta G61-LT-P3s of Konrad Motorsport with Axcil Jefferies and Danny Soufi.
Meanwhile, in the midfield, there was a collision between the two Duqueines of Lüthen and Villagomez, for which the South American was given a drive-through penalty. After about 15 minutes of racing, race control called on the safety car twice in quick succession, which brought the field close together again and also allowed Lüthen and Villagomez to catch up.
Shortly after the restart, the pit stop window opened and the Mühlner Motorsport command team immediately switched from Lüthen to teammate Munding, who subsequently benefited from a clear track due to the early stop.
At the stops, there were two dramas in the leading group: due to a problem with the starter, Jefferies’ second-placed Ginetta was an early retirement. Shortly afterwards, the leading Ligier of Toksport WRT was also in trouble. When Dienst changed to Besler, the car could not be started either. After a delay, the Turk was able to resume the race, but dropped back to fourth position.
Munding in the Mühlner-Duqueine was at the head of the field after the pit stop phase followed by Sebastian von Gartzen for Racing Experience and Oscar Tunjo, who had taken over from Villagomez. Tunjo, however, quickly made a strong move and took second place. In the final phase, he was able to close in on Munding, but was unable to get by.
Berkay Besler also found speed in the final phase and finally overtook von Gartzen at the end of the start/finish, which secured third place for him and Marvin Dienst. Behind von Gartzen and his team-mate Gary Hauser, WTM Racing pair Leonard Weiss and Torsten Kratz finished fifth ahead of the Gebhrdt Ginetta duo Jacob Erlabacher and Michael Lyons.
Danny Soufi, who was third at the start of the race, completed the top seven in another Ginetta.
Matthias Lüthen, winner for Mühlner Motorsport: “The victory is total madness. We are simply overjoyed. The team absolutely deserves this triumph. We had a good strategy but also a bit of luck. That’s part of racing. At the beginning of my stint, a competitor hit my car. But due to the safety car we were able to catch up again. Donar then drove his stint consistently to the end. I’m already looking forward to the finale in Hockenheim.”
Donar Munding, winner for Mühlner Motorsport: “When we did the driver change directly after the safety car, we already knew that we would come out quite far in front. In fact, we were in first place. At the beginning of my stint it took me a bit to get up to speed because we had a lot of pick-up on the tyres. Once I was in rhythm, I didn’t want to over-push. Towards the end of the race I was able to watch Oscar in the rear view mirror and manage the lead to drive safely to the win.”
Oscar Tunjo, Second place for Rinaldi Racing: “We were very close to victory today. However, I am very happy with the result. I didn’t want to risk too much on the last lap. We had damage to the car after Mateo’s collision from the start. So driving was not easy.”
Mateo Villagomez, second place for Rinaldi Racing: “I’m happy on the one hand but also a little unhappy with myself. I would have liked to hand Oscar a better car but we had a little damage. I am very proud to be his teammate. Second place is also a great result for the team, who worked hard again.”
