ADAC GT Masters·8.6.2019

Nicolai Sylvest shines on Saturday: Danish driver takes pole, overall win and P1 in Pirelli Junior class

The Danish driver qualified on pole in the BMW M6 GT3 prepared by MRS GT-Racing. In the race, he maintained his lead until the driver handover despite pressure from behind. Team-mate Jens Klingmann then brought the blue BMW over the finish line in first place. For Sylvest, this was not only his maiden victory in the Pirelli Junior class this season but also his first ever overall win in the ADAC GT Masters. "Of course, I'm mega excited about what we've achieved together, Jens, the team and me," said Sylvest. My start was good, after that, it was difficult to maintain the gap on the Porsche in second place and I knew that if I made a mistake the Porsche would be there. Jens did a terrific job in the closing stages. He was under a lot of pressure from the Corvette and I felt really anxious in the pits, but still, we've got a lot of faith in Jens and he secured the win at the chequered flag."

Contesting his home fixture, Audi driver Max Hofer (Montaplast by Land Motorsport) was second-best Junior along with Christopher Mies. They finished sixth overall. Third place went to another R8 LMS driver. Jeffrey Schmidt took P9 overall with BWT-Mücke partner, Christopher Haase.

In the Pirelli Trophy classification, Corvette driver Sven Barth took his third win of the year. The RWT Racing driver qualified third and maintained that position during his stint in the race. Team-mate David Jahn then overtook Le Mans winner, Timo Bernhard, and secured second place overall for the pair of them. "Qualifying was really terrific, but we never expected things to turn out as they did," said Barth. "Still, we made a good job of testing on Thursday and in practice on Friday and found something to do with set-up that helped us tremendously, especially in the fast middle sector. Things got a bit hectic at the start, but I stayed in third place. I then tried to go easy on the car for David. I managed that very well, and he then moved up into second place."

Jan-Erik Slooten in the Porsche 911 GT3-R fielded by Iron Force Racing came second in the classification for amateur drivers, finishing in front of series newcomer, Stéphane Tribaudini, in the Aust Audi R8 LMS.