Toni Seiler has got his Gentlemen (formerly Amateurs) championship campaign off to a great start with a win in the ADAC GT Masters opener at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Supported by co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen in a Callaway Competition Corvette GT3 Z06.R with its distinctive yellow livery, the Swiss veteran was making his 99th start in the ADAC GT Masters series; today's trophy was number 22 for his cabinet. After a break of almost two years, Marc A Hayek returned to the ADAC GT Masters with partner Peter Kox in a Blancpain Racing Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 to claim the runner-up spot. Newcomer Herbert Handlos in a TONINO Team Herberth Porsche 911 GT3 R completed the podium party in third place.

Immediately after the start of the first of two races this weekend, Corvette driver Remo Lips (Callaway Competition) took the lead in the Gentlemen class followed by the two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs of Herbert Handlos and Dominic Jöst (TONINO Team Herberth) and the Corvette driven by Toni Seiler. Shortly before the driver changeover, however, there were indications that class leader Lips might have a mechanical problem: "In the last few laps of my stint, I could feel that there were problems with the transmission. I couldn't get into fourth gear, and for Lenny, it got even worse in the second half of the race. So our main focus then was on just finishing the race and scoring points in the Gentlemen competition."

The main beneficiary of this setback was fellow Corvette driver Toni Seiler whose partner Jeroen Bleekemolen took over the cockpit at the mandatory pit stop and held on to the lead in the class until the end of the race. "I was caught napping at the start because I wanted to play safe," said Seiler by way of explanation afterwards. "Our priority was to finish the race in one piece and not to come unstuck on Turn 1. I got through the first corner without making contact with anyone and then drove a clean stint in order to save the tyres for Jeroen."

Following a determined charge up field, Marc A Hayek and Peter Kox secured second place. After a botched qualifying, the Lamborghini duo had been obliged to work their way forward from the penultimate starting place. At the end of the race, Kox crossed the line three seconds behind the Seiler/Bleekemolen Corvette, thereby ensuring a podium appearance for Hayek in the Gentlemen class. Hayek: "After things didn't go too well for me in qualifying, I got on fine in the race itself. I drove with safety first in mind and tried not to lose contact with the rest of the field. At the end of the day, the result was OK, the car was fine and I'm enjoying myself again."

Herbert Handlos in a Porsche 911 GT3 completed the podium party: he set the fastest time in a separate qualifying session for the Gentlemen contestants - an innovation to the rules for the 2014 season. The Austrian was satisfied with his ADAC GT Masters debut: "This was my first race in the ADAC GT Masters, my first at Oschersleben and my first in the 911 GT3 R, so all things considered, that wasn't such a bad result. You're not going win a whole season on the first corner. I felt my way quite gingerly into the race, but we're up against a really strong field and we need a bit more practice."

The two GW IT Racing Team // Schütz Motorsport Porsches driven by Dominic Jöst / Florian Scholze and Wolf Nathan / Anton Wossos took the chequered flag in fourth and fifth positions respectively.