The 2016 ADAC GT Masters season got underway at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, with two exciting races featuring a grid packed with new GT3 machinery.
Zakspeed looked like taking both wins off the bat, but GRT managed to take surprise win in Race 2:
Race 1
Defending champions Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig came out on top in an exciting opening race as the tenth season of the Super Sports Car League got underway at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. The duo taking the new Zakspeed Mercedes-AMG out on its racing debut staged a last-minute overtaking manoeuvre to prevail over the Team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8s of Connor De Phillippi and Christopher Mies and of Peter Hoevenaars and Marc Basseng.
“We had hoped for a good start to the season but had not been expecting a victory” said a delighted Luca Ludwig after steering the Mercedes-AMG across the finish line. “With that final overtaking manoeuvre just before the end, I was risking everything, but it was enough by a hair’s breadth for me to take the lead.”
Having started from fourth in the Bentley Continental, it was Fabian Hamprecht driving for Bentley Team ABT who got the jump in the sprint to the first tight bend after the start at Oschersleben to take a surprise lead on Lap 1, followed by Asch in the Mercedes-AMG. Pole-sitter De Phillippi dropped back down to third place in the Audi R8. Markus Winkelhock’s in another R8, Patrick Kujala in the Bonaldi Lamborghini Huracán and Patrick Assenheimer in a Callaway Corvette C7 gave pursuit in positions four, five and six respectively.
Hamprecht led until the driver changeover but, like Asch, had to serve a five-second penalty for an infringement of the rules at the start, which enabled Mies in the Audi to take the lead in the second stint of the race. A safety car deployment following Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinski’s (23, S/Aust Motorsport) exit off track then added some spice to proceedings.
Ludwig in the Mercedes-AMG managed to re-establish the connection to the leader and put the Audi driver under pressure in a battle that lasted an entire lap. He then mounted an attack on the penultimate lap and overtook his opponent in spectacular fashion. The title defender maintained his lead to the finish line, getting his team off to a superb start to the campaign with a win. De Phillippi and Mies followed in second place. Team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport turned in a strong team performance.
A perfect pit stop and a strong race by Peter Hoevenaars and Marc Basseng enabled the ADAC GT Masters newcomers to also secure the third podium spot. This was not the only success for the Audi squad. De Phillippi and Mies together with Hoevenaars and Basseng booked the top two positions in the new Junior classification. The Bentley pairing of Hamprecht and Guy Smith were unable to challenge for the win, however, after breaking the speed limit in the pit lane, for which they duly received a drive-through penalty. Robert Renauer and Martin Ragginger ( both Precote Herberth Motorsport) in the Porsche 911 placed fourth, while Jesse Krohn and Martin Tomczyk finished fifth in the Schubert BMW M6.
On Phoenix Racing’s return to the ADAC GT Masters, Markus Winkelhock and Markus Pommer took sixth place in the Audi, finishing ahead of the Corvette C7 of Jules Gounon and record ADAC GT Masters championship winner Daniel Keilwitz (both Callaway Competition), who, apart from coming home seventh, also made a podium appearance for third place in the Junior classification. Rolf Ineichen and Christian Engelhart (GRT Grasser-Racing-Team) were eighth in a Lamborghini Huracán, clinching victory in the Trophy class, the former Gentlemen standings. The Audis of Christiaan Frankenhout and Christopher Haase (both Car Collection Motorsport) and of Florian Stoll partnered by Laurens Vanthoor (both kfzteile24, APR Motorsport) completed the Top Ten.
Race 2
The second round of the season at Oschersleben had it all, especially a last few laps in which Trophy contestant Rolf Ineichen and Christian Engelhart (both GRT Grasser Racing Team) ended up surprise winners in their Lamborghini Huracán. Finishing second and third respectively were the two Audi R8s driven by Connor De Phillippi and Christopher Mies (both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) and by Florian Stoll and Laurens Vanthoor (both kfzteile24, APR Motorsport).
“I would never have expected this,” said series newcomer Rolf Ineichen. “I went into my first ADAC GT Masters weekend with no expectations at all, and then come away with the race win. Many thanks to the GRT Grasser Racing Team for giving me the chance to drive in this great racing series.”
The second race started the same way that the first ended. Zakspeed’s Luca Ludwig went into the lead from pole position in the Mercedes-AMG but was recalled to the grid when the race was red-flagged after an accident at the start on the first turn. Ludwig kept the lead after the restart behind the safety car, followed by two Audi R8s driven by Vanthoor and Mies.
Sebastian Asch, Ludwig’s team-mate, continued in the lead after the driver changeover. Somewhat surprisingly, he was followed out onto the track by Ineichen, who had taken over the Lamborghini Huracán from team-mate Engelhart in fourth place and passed the two Audis in the pits. While Asch drew away out in front, Connor De Phillippi, team-mate to Mies, went on a charge from fourth place. First he overtook the Audi driven by Stoll and then put Rolf Ineichen under pressure.
A late safety car deployment in response to a collision between Lamborghini driver Patrick Kujala and Bentley driver Fabian Hamprecht bunched the field up once again. Asch maintained his lead and was first to take the chequered flag but was subsequently handed a 30-second time penalty for an infringement of the rules at the restart behind the safety car. And so, the win went to Ineichen and team-mate Engelhart. Asch and Ludwig were relegated to P22. The Lamborghini pair also won the Trophy class. Ineichen’s maiden win in the ADAC GT Masters is the first overall victory for an amateur driver in the Super Sports Car League since 2012. De Phillippi and Mies in second place won the Junior category, as they had done in the first race.
Mercedes pair Nikolaj Rogivue and Felix Rosenqvist (both Team Zakspeed) in fourth place were pleased to rack up their first points of the season as they finished behind Stoll & Vanthoor in P3. Christiaan Frankenhout and Christopher Haase (both Car Collection Motorsport) in another Audi R8 took P5 from Robert Renauer and Martin Ragginger (both Precote Herberth Motorsport) in the best placed of the Porsche 911s. Markus Winkelhock and Markus Pommer (both Phoenix Racing) brought their Audi R8 home in seventh position ahead of Jesse Krohn and DTM-star Martin Tomczyk (both Schubert Motorsport) in the new BMW M6. Calloway Competition’s Patrick Assenheimer and Dominik Schwager in the best-placed Corvette C7 together with Isaac Tutumlu-Lopez and Kelvin van der Linde driving in the Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 completed the top ten.
