Last weekend’s Prototype Cup Germany races at the Nürburgring, held on the support bill for DTM, were particularly memorable, as Ralf Schumacher scored two victories in two races on his motorsport comeback with his son David.
Race 1
Ralf Schumacher’s return to racing began with a Race 1 victory on Saturday, as Danny Soufi was crowned the new Junior champion of the 2024 season.
Race nine of this season’s Prototype Cup Germany, was dominated by Ralf and David Schumacher and US Racing. Six-time Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher took the lead at the start, before consistently extending his lead on a track that was still wet in places.
“My father has always been good in the rain,” said David, knowingly. Ralf, who found himself five seconds clear of the second-placed car after just two laps, was full of praise for his team’s performance.
“The car was top and the tyres were fast in the working window, which meant it was not so difficult to pull clear.”
David completed the job with an equally impressive second stint, bringing the US Racing Ligier home with a lead of almost 17 seconds over Keanu Al Azhari (Mühlner Motorsport). Julien Apothéloz and Riccardo Leone Cirelli (BWT Mücke Motorsport) finished third.
Right from the word ‘go’, Ralf Schumacher showed that he is as motivated as ever on his return to motorsport after a twelve-year break. He took the lead at the start and then moved away from the rest of the field – seemingly effortlessly. He saw the pit stop as more of a potential problem.
“Mistakes can happen there, and they can really hurt you. However, we also did a very good job of the pit stop.” David Schumacher took over at the wheel of the #27 LMP3 car for the second half of the race.
“The track was drier for me than it was for my dad, so that was not a problem. My father gave me a good lead, I just had to bring it home.”
16-year-old Al Azhari had to work hard for his second place. One lap into the race, he was down in fifth place. However, he then benefitted from a penalty handed to Danny Soufi of Konrad Motorsport.
Race control found the American guilty of causing a crash with Antti Rammo (MRS GT-Racing) and punished him with a drive-through penalty. Al Azhari overtook Valentino Catalano (Gebhardt Motorsport) and Apothéloz shortly thereafter to move into second place. While Al Azhari had to work particularly hard in the first half of the race, Cirelli had to pull out all the stops in the second half. He took over the Mücke Duqueine from Apothéloz and came under permanent pressure from Markus Pommer (Gebhardt Motorsport).
However, the 16-year-old Italian produced a flawless drive to deny the reigning champion, who had to settle for fourth place together with team-mate Catalano.
Fifth across the finish line were Klaus Abbelen and Felipe Laser (Frikadelli Racing Team). Laser produced a thrilling fightback to ensure that Abbelen was the best-placed Trophy driver. Soufi and Torsten Kratz (Konrad Motorsport) came home sixth, ahead of Stefan Aust (Rinaldi Racing), Maxim Dirickx / Jacob Erlbacher (Gebhardt Motorsport) and Luca Link and Suellio Almeida (DataLab Sports with Rinaldi). Soufi and Kratz remain championship leaders in the Prototype Cup Germany and now lead Apothéloz and Cirelli by 18 points.
In the Junior competition, Soufi is now 118 points clear of Catalano; this means the Konrad Motorsport protégé can no longer be denied the title of top Junior. In the Trophy competition, leader Rammo still holds a slender lead over Kratz, despite failing to finish at the Nürburgring.
Race 2
Ralf and David Schumacher capped off their perfect weekend on their guest appearance on Sunday with a second win.
After setting the fastest time in every practice and qualifying session, and taking victory in Saturday’s race, the father-son duo in a Ligier LMP3 prototype claimed another commanding win in the Sunday race. Pole-sitter David Schumacher was unable to hold off Felipe Laser (Frikaelli Racing Team) at the start, but was back in front just a few laps later.
Ralf Schumacher, at the wheel for the second half of the race, completed the success for the US Racing team run by himself and Gerhard Ungar.
“David did the main job today,” he admitted.
Markus Pommer and Valentino Catalano (Gebhardt Motorsport) crossed the finish line in second place, ahead of Antti Rammo (MRS GT-Racing) in third.
Going into the final weekend at the Sachsenring at the start of September, Danny Soufi and Torsten Kratz (both Konrad Motorsport) are still leading the way in the Drivers Championship. However, Pommer / Catalano have climbed into second place and reduced their lead to just nine points.
David Schumacher was behind the wheel for the start, and conceded first place to Laser for a few laps.
“The start procedure here is a little different to the ADAC GT Masters, in which I usually drive. However, I was able to retake first place a few laps later. I then focussed on giving my father the biggest lead possible.”
Father Ralf knew what he had to do, performed his role perfectly, and celebrated their second win of the weekend. The rest of the field had no chance against Schumacher / Schumacher in the two races.
“I believe Formula 4 teams like our US Racing are very professional and know what they are doing. We were excellently prepared. It is important that the car is fast in all conditions, and we achieved that.” And Ralf and David Schumacher only had good things to say about the Prototype Cup Germany.
“The series, the car and the whole concept are really good,” said Ralf. “The Prototype Cup Germany is a great product, the weekend was a lot of fun,” David added.
Rammo and Catalano, who took over the Gebhardt Duqueine from Pommer, also produced some thrilling LMP3 racing. Catalano was hot on Rammo’s heels for many laps, but only found a way past the Estonian on the final lap, when the ADAC Stiftung Sport protégé took advantage of a mistake from Rammo.
The two solo starters Keanu Al Azhari (Mühlner Motorsport) and Stefan Aust (Rinaldi Racing) crossed the finish line behind Pommer / Catalano and Rammo. Julien Apothéloz Team every time and Riccardo Leone Cirelli (both BWT Mücke Motorsport), who were involved in a collision with Kratz at the start, came home sixth, ahead of Luca Link and Suellio Phil Almeida (both DataLab Sports with Rinaldi).
Kratz / Soufi dropped from sixth to eighth place due to a retrospective 30-secodn penalty for their part in the crash with the Mücke Duqueine at the start. However, they were still able to hang onto a slender lead in the championship.
Image courtesy of ADAC
