Marvin Kirchhöfer and Tom Fleming took pole and an impressive win in the Garage 59 McLaren 720S in Race 1 at the Hockenheimring despite the last minute nature of the squad’s entry.
The duo was only formed after the British squad had to reshuffle the line-ups of its two cars after
Miguel Ramos fell ill.
The Portuguese was replaced by Alexander West along Mark Sansom, while factory driver Kirchhöfer was called last-minute to pair with Tom Fleming, who had initially been scheduled to partner with West!
Very compeitive throughout the weekend, the duo managed to navigate even the chaotic phase of a safety car before the end of the pit stops.
And it was better still for Garage 59 as their hastily reformed Am line-up of Sansom and West took that class win too!
Second overall were again (for the third time) Simon Reicher-Christopher Haase in the Eastalent Audi (reducing their disadvantage in the standings to just 11 points against Levente/ Révész, who finished only sixth), with the Elite Ferrari of Tom Lebbon-Tom Emson taking a second podium finish.
In Pro-Am, there was a second consecutive success for Steve Jans-Aaron Walker (GetSpeed Mercedes)
ahead of the SPS sister cars of Valentin Baumann-Dominik Baumann and Dexter Müller-Yannick
Mettler.
In Am, behind Sansom-West, Gino Forgione and Michele Rugolo took second in the AF Corse Ferrari and Petr Fulín-Jiri Navrátil an excellent third in their debut, at the wheel of the Fullin Race Audi.
Last-minute addition to the Garage 59 roster, Marvin Kirchhöfer took a perfect start from pole ahead of Schiller, Baumann, McDonald, Paverud, Lebbon, Ludwig, Revesz and Petrov in a feisty first stage with multiple contacts, notably between De Meeus and Hernandez, Bennett and Paverud, and Walker and Rogalski. De Meeus (5 seconds) and Bennett (10) receiving penalties as a result.
By lap 10, Kirchhöfer had a 2.5 lead over Schiller, followed by the trio Baumann /Ludwig /and Lebbon, then Macdonald, Bennett, Revesz, Petrov, Meakin and Korzzniowski, first in Am.
The window for driver changes opened at the end of lap 16, when Kirchhöfer had a 4-second advantage (but had to serve a 10-second handicap).
The weather made its appearance with a storm breaking out and Korzeniowski and Dörrbecker both off into the gravel. Schiller too was caught out bye the rapid deterioration in track conditions but was able to rejoin the track.
The safety car was required on lap 22 with a few cars still to make their mandatory pit-stop. That saw takes four laps taken to allow all driver changes and to re-order the group.
At the restart, Bartone led ahead of Fleming but there were five lapped cars in-between the two and a big battle in the compact group lit up. Basz unlapped himself but would later stop on the side of the track.
It would take a few laps for Fleming to pass all the lapped cars before overtaking Bartone, who later spun as he came under pressure from the others.
In the meantime, there were several contacts, including one between Bonduel and Visoiu (the latter would get a 10-second penalty), while Ugran had an off in the grass. Kell was also forced to retire.
Fleming secured the win ahead of Haase, Emson, Porter and Aron, while Jans took the win in Pro-Am ahead of Pierburg and Mettler, and Sansom took Am ahead of Forgione and Navratil.
