Porsche team principal Michael Joos lifts the winner’s trophy at the Red Bull Ring. Finn Gehrsitz and Sven Müller finish runner-up to close the gap in the championship. Salman Owega and Elias Seppänen continue to top the table.
Race ten of this season’s ADAC GT Masters could hardly have gone better for Team Joose by Racemotion. After pole position, the Porsche racing team celebrated a one-two at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday afternoon. Team principal Michael Joos (Vöhringen) claimed his maiden victory in the iconic GT series alongside Christian Engelhart (Starnberg) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. “My role as team principal is very demanding for me on race weekends, so it is awesome to make it onto the very top step of the podium. I still cannot believe it. The rainy conditions were far from easy. However, I soon came to terms with them. This is an incredible result for the team,” said Michael Joos after his first ADAC GT Masters victory. Finn Gehrsitz (Stuttgart) and Sven Müller (Bingen/both Team Joos by Racemotion) hit back in the title race with second place in Austria. Third place went to the Haupt Racing Team duo of Petru Umbrarescu (RO) and former DTM race winner Philip Ellis (GBR) in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Race ten of this season’s ADAC GT Masters began in rain and temperatures around 14 degrees Celsius. Pole-sitter Engelhart took full advantage of his starting position and was first into turn one at the 4.318-kilometre racetrack in Austria. The 2020 ADAC GT Masters champion kept a clear mind in the Styria region and appeared unmoved by the many exciting battles going on behind him. After the driver changeover, Joos rejoined the race in first place. The principal of Team Joos by Racemotion followed on seamlessly from the performance of Engelhart, who now has 18 race wins to his name, and crossed the finish line as a winner for the first time in the ADAC GT Masters.
In the battle for second place, a captivating struggle between Ellis and Müller developed early on in the race. In the closing phases, Gehrsitz, who had taken over from Müller, put Mercedes-AMG driver Umbrarescu under great pressure and took second place with a spectacular overtaking manoeuvre. “Sven handed the car over to me in third place. The end of the race was getting closer and closer, and I was running out of time. As we are fighting in the championship, I just gave it a go and had to take a big risk with the overtaking manoeuvre,” said Gehrsitz, who also won the Pirelli Junior competition. Third-placed Umbrarescu and Ellis were pleased with their trophies at the presentation ceremony. “It is nice to be back in the ADAC GT Masters. At the start of the race, we produced some mega racing with many duels. The difficult conditions suited the Mercedes-AMG. It is great that our performance was rewarded with third place,” said two-time ADAC GT Masters race winner Ellis.
Fourth place went to Porsche drivers Jannes Fittje (Langenhain) and Nico Menzel (Kelberg/both Huber Motorsport). John Paul Southern (USA) and Jonas Karklys (LT/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler) were fifth in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2. Championship leaders Salman Owega (Cologne) and Elias Seppänen (FIN/both Landgraf Motorsport) ended the race at the Alpine circuit in sixth place. During the race, the two Mercedes-AMG drivers were handed a 15-second penalty for causing a collision. Alain Valente (Haupt Racing Team) saw the chequered flag in seventh place. The Swiss shares the driving duties in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Ralf Aron (EST). In eighth place at the Red Bull Ring was the Lamborghini duo of Benjamin Hites (CHL) and Marco Mapelli (I/both GRT Grasser-Racing-Team). Eduardo Coseteng (PHL) and Ben Green (GBR) ended the race in ninth place in the Schubert BMW. Rounding out the top ten were Maxime Oosten (NL) and Bruno Spengler (CAN) in the BMW M4 GT3 of FK Performance Motorsport.
After the penultimate round of the season in Austria, Owega and Seppänen now head to the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg as championship leaders with 158 points. Gehrsitz and Müller trail them by 20 points in second place. From 20th to 22nd October, the ADAC GT Masters will determine its new champions at the season finale at the circuit near Heidelberg.
