ADAC GT Masters·23.8.2018

Tales from the Zandvoort paddock: News from the ADAC GT Masters race weekend in the Netherlands

Maiden victory: Marco Mapelli became the ninth driver to register a first win in the Super Sports Car League during the current campaign. He follows in the footsteps of Philip Ellis, Max Hofer, Andrea Caldarelli, Jeffrey Schmidt, Stefan Mücke, Marvin Kirchhöfer, Filip Salaquarda and Indy Dontje.

Variety: In ten ADAC GT Masters races so far this season, no fewer than nine different driver pairings have lifted the winners' trophy. First-time winners this year are Ezequiel Perez Companc and Marco Mapelli (Zandvoort) and the partnership of Robert Renauer and Mathieu Jaminet.

Podium comeback: For the first time this season, both Audi R8 LMS cars entered by Montaplast by Land-Motorsport finished in the Top Three on Saturday. Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde were runners-up , with Jake Dennis and Christopher Mies in third. "This result has done us all a power of good," said team principal Christian Land. "After our podium in the season opener, we've had to contend with setbacks ever since. But now we are back on the podium. The hard work has paid off."

All change at the top: Sixth place in the first race at Zandvoort was enough to take Mercedes-AMG drivers Markus Pommer and Maximilian Götz to the top of the ADAC GT Masters drivers' championship. It is the fourth time during the current campaign that the lead in the general classification has changed hands.

Three Mückes in the points: BWT Mücke Motorsport passed a major milestone at Zandvoort. For the first time since signing up for the ADAC GT Masters in 2017, all three cars entered by the Berlin-based outfit came home in the Top Ten. In Sunday's race, they took P6, P7 and P9.

By the narrowest of margins: Pole-sitter Mathieu Jaminet pipped second-fastest Maximilian Buhk in Sunday's quali by just 0.008 seconds. This was the tightest outcome of any qualifying session so far this season. Narrow margins are not uncommon in ADAC GT Masters qualis. Indeed, this was the seventh occasion in 2018 that the pole-sitter was under a tenth of a second faster than his nearest opponent.

Ten races, ten different pole-sitters: The qualifying sessions of the ADAC GT Masters are turning out to be quite unpredictable in 2018. In each of the ten races so far there, pole has been claimed by a different contestant. At Zandvoort, Ezequiel Perez Companc booked his first ever P1 start, while Mathieu Jaminet was back on pole for the first time since Oschersleben in 2017.

Success for the four rings: Audi drivers Philip Ellis and Max Hofer regained the lead in the Pirelli Junior classification at Zandvoort after ten out of 14 races this season. Remo Lips in an R8 LMS did the same in the Pirelli Trophy for amateur drivers.