It was a successful Saturday in Hockenheim for Audi driver Ricardo Feller from the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport team: The Swiss extended his overall lead and took victory in the Pirelli Junior competition.

Feller laid the foundations for his success with second place in qualifying. He defended his position at the start, and stayed within striking distance of the leader over the course of his stint. Team-mate Christopher Mies tried to take the lead after two late safety car phases, but ultimately missed out on victory by just 0.521 seconds.

“The Lamborghini pulled away quickly at the start, but our start was actually really good,” said Feller after his fifth victory in this season’s competition for young drivers. “I received a slight shunt in turn 1 – I don’t know where from, but we unfortunately lost a little time. Over the course of the race, we were able to close in on Mirko a little, but unfortunately we were never close enough to mount an attack. I was a little more nervous again in the last 20 minutes, but Chris brought us home calmly and cleanly. I am happy with the result.”

The second best Junior was fellow Audi driver Jusuf Owega (Phoenix Racing), while third place went to Jannes Fittje in a Porsche 911 GT3 R run by Team Joos Sportwagentechnik.

In the Pirelli Trophy competition, victory went to Lamborghini driver Rolf Ineichen (GRT Grasser Racing Team), who finished sixth alongside works driver Franck Perera. “Unfortunately, I did not manage to put together a clean lap in qualifying and always had traffic,” said the Swiss. “That is why we had to start from 20th place on the grid. I made good progress at the start and came into the pits in 13th place. Unfortunately, the stop was slightly too short and we had to take a penalty lap. Franck Perera then did everything right. He was patient, benefitted from others’ mistakes, and worked his way into sixth place. We can be happy with that. We are obviously doubly happy, as the number 63 claimed a lights-to-flag victory from pole position. That is good for the team. We must now make sure we keep this up tomorrow.”