Dienst/Marschalkowski win remarkable Sunday race. Championship leader Raffaele Marciello on the cusp of title win. 26,000 fans set new crowd record at the Sachsenring
Thrilling racing at the penultimate round of the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring. Constant changes in position, a bad day for the favourites, and tragic retirements – the spectators in the packed grandstands were treated to magnificent motorsport on Sunday. After 44 eventful laps, Marvin Dienst (25/Lampertheim) was first across the finish line in the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to claim his second win in the German GT Championship. “That is my second victory in the ADAC GT Masters, and both have come at the Sachsenring. I know where to overtake here, which helped me,” explained Dienst. His young partner, ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Jan Marschalkowski (19/Inning), was also delighted to get his maiden win as a rookie. Championship leader Raffaele Marciello (27/CH), who alternated with Daniel Juncadella (31/E) at the wheel of the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, came home second after a controlled race. In doing so, the driver from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf extended his lead in the table. Local favourite Maximilian Paul (22/Dresden) and Marco Mapelli (35/I) were third in the #71 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo. The ADAC GT Masters weekend at the Sachsenring was watched by 26,000 spectators – the sixth crowd record in a row at the sixth round of the season.
Key facts, Sachsenring, Hohenstein-Ernstthal, race 12 of 14
Circuit length: 3,645 metres
Weather: 17 degrees, sunny
Pole position: Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II8#1), 1:18.106 minutes
Winners: Marschalkowski/Dienst (Mercedes-AMG Team ZVO, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #8)
Fastest lap: Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II8#1), 1:19.747 minutes
The action came thick and fast, right from the start of Sunday’s race at the Sachsenring. The #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Team Joos Sportwagentechnik was unable to continue after a collision. This was a bitter setback for the title ambitions of Christian Engelhart (35/Starnberg) and Ayhancan Güven (24/TUR), who lie second in the championship. Shortly after, misfortune struck pole-sitter and race leader Christopher Mies (33/Düsseldorf). A puncture forced the #1 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II into an unscheduled pit stop, which saw the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport car drop well down the field. His partner Tim Zimmermann (26/Langenargen) eventually crossed the finish line in eleventh place. Dennis Marschall (26/Eggenstein) from Rutronik Racing took the lead and handed the #27 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II over to team-mate Kim-Luis Schramm (24/Meuspath) at the mandatory pit stop. Maximilian Paul, Jusuf Owega (#29 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II/Montaplast by Land-Motorsport), Marvin Dienst and Raffaele Marciello slotted in behind him. The mandatory pit stop marked the end of the race for Saturday’s winners Fabien Schiller (25/Troisdorf) and Jules Gounon (27/F) from Drago Racing Team ZVO, whose #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 had to retire with a faulty pedal box.
The drama increased after the driver changeovers. First of all, Jusuf Owega, who had battled his way into second place, was forced out with a puncture. With three minutes remaining, Marvin Dienst overtook the leading Audi of Kim-Luis Schramm, who became the next to retire with a faulty tyre on the penultimate lap. The beneficiary of these retirements were Raffaele Marciello and Maximilian Paul, who finished second and third. Salman Owega (17/Cologne) and Christopher Haase (34/Kulmbach) finished fourth for Montaplast by Land-Motorsport in the #28 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II – their best result of the season. The same applies to fellow Audi drivers Florian Spengler (34/Ellwangen) and Markus Winkelhock (42/D) who finished fifth for Car Collection Motorsport.
As they did yesterday, Franck Perera (38/F) and Arthur Rougier (22/F) produced an impressive display in the #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Emil Frey Racing, battling to sixth place from 13th on the grid. Ben Green (24/GB) and Jesse Krohn (32/FIN) launched a similar fightback in the #10 BMW M4 GT3 for Schubert Motorsport, climbing five places to finish seventh. Jack Aitken (26/GB) and Albert Costa Balboa (32/E) ended race twelve of the season in eighth place in the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Emil Frey Racing, followed by the Allied-Racing duo of Joel Sturm (20/Brühl) and Sven Müller (30/Bingen) in the #22 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Rounding off the top ten were Elias Seppänen (18/FIN) and Frank Bird (23/GB) from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf in the #84 Junior Mamba.
Jan Marschalkowski: “I cannot believe it. My start was good and I wanted to look after the tyres for Marvin during my stint. Having to watch the second half of the race, my pulse was above 180. I am totally happy with my first win in the ADAC GT Masters.”
Marvin Dienst: “Our car went like a rocket, I felt like I was flying. I did not intend to overtake Kim-Luis in the Sachsenkurve, but then there was a gap and I went for it. It was an unbelievable race. I had a lot of fun.”
All ADAC GT Masters races start at 13:00. International viewers can watch the qualifying and the races live on adac.de/motorsport, the new ADAC Motorsports YouTube channel youtube.com/ADACMotorsports and motorsport.tv.
