ZANDVOORT, The Netherlands — A choice was made by millimeters on the first spherical of the ADAC GT Masters at Zandvoort.
Finn Zulauf (20, GER) and Simon Connor Primm (20, GER) received Saturday’s race by a razor-thin margin, securing Paul Motorsport’s first victory within the ADAC GT Masters.
The Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 crossed the road 0.340 seconds forward of Tim Zimmermann (28, GER) and Leyton Fourie (19, GER, each FK Efficiency Motorsport) of their BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
Their fellow Schubert Motorsport drivers, the twins Sandro and Juliano Holzem (each 20, GER), accomplished the rostrum.
“After dropping what we thought was a certain victory on the Lausitzring, this was one of the simplest ways to bounce again. The group actually deserved this win,” mentioned a delighted Zulauf. “The tip of the race was much more thrilling than I’d have appreciated.” Teammate Primm added: “Firstly of the race, I attempted to drive the automotive properly and safely across the monitor, and the lead grew ever bigger. The tip was nerve-wracking, however Finn did an awesome job.”
Primm and Zulauf ensured an ideal day for Paul Motorsport: After Maximilian Paul secured the primary podium for the Dresden-based household racing group within the DTM two hours earlier, the primary triumph within the ADAC GT Masters adopted.The race on the 4.259 km lengthy dune circuit befell in dry situations at round 22 levels.
Polesitter Jannes Fittje (25, GER/SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm) defended his lead firstly till a technical drawback along with his Mercedes-AMG GT3 stopped him and dropped him to the again of the sector.
Primm took the lead and by no means relinquished it, securing his debut victory within the ADAC GT Masters with Zulauf. Behind the sector, the BMWs started a comeback. Sandro Holzem and Zimmermann labored their approach ahead from ninth and eleventh on the grid with quite a few overtaking maneuvers.
After the driving force change, a duel for second place developed between Juliano Holzem and Fourie, which the FK Efficiency Motorsport driver in the end received. When the Mercedes-AMG, pushed by Fittje’s teammate Wiskirchen (22, GER), lastly got here to a halt shortly earlier than the top, the protection automotive was deployed. Within the remaining laps after the restart, a fierce battle for the lead developed between eventual winner Zulauf within the Lamborghini and Fourie within the BMW.
On the identical time, Sandro Holzem needed to vigorously defend the ultimate podium spot towards fellow model driver Eduardo Coseteng (21, PHL), who in the end completed fourth along with his teammate Julian Hanses (27, Hilden, each FK Efficiency Motorsport).“We knew we’d have an opportunity after the protection automotive, and I attempted,” defined second-placed Fourie. “We obtained very shut, however in the long run, the danger was too nice for me and I most popular to safe second place. This podium was on the playing cards. We simply needed to kind out a couple of small issues, however as soon as that was proper, the tempo was there.”For the Holzem twins, it was their first podium end collectively within the ADAC GT Masters. Sandro Holzem, who had already completed within the prime three as soon as earlier than, took over the beginning line and handed the BMW M4 GT3 Evo over to his brother Juliano in second place.
He defined: “We needed to combat our approach ahead firstly, which took a little bit of a toll on the tires. That’s why it obtained actually shut on the finish, and I attempted every thing to in some way salvage the rostrum. It couldn’t have gone higher.”Following behind the three BMWs had been the three Ford Mustang GT3s of the Haupt Racing Workforce. Salman Owega (20, Cologne)/Finn Wiebelhaus (19, Obertshausen) crossed the end line forward of Max Reis (18, Ramstein)/Niklas Kalus (19, Duisburg) and Dennis Fetzer (24, Gießen)/Jonathan Cecotto (25, Ven). Leo Pichler (23, Austria)/Simon Birch (18, Denmark/each Razoon – greater than racing) completed eighth within the Porsche 911 GT3 R. Jonas Karklys (35, Lithuania)/Emil Gjerdrum (18, Norway/each Liqui Moly Workforce Engstler by GRT) completed ninth, securing their first Professional-AM class victory of their Lamborghini. The highest 10 had been accomplished by Nico Hantke (21/Hürth)/Denis Bulatov (26/Scherer Sport PHX) within the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2.
