HRT dominates with four Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the top five. HRT owner Hubert Haupt and Dennis Fetzer win the ProAm class. Kalender and Seppänen finish on podium to extend lead at top of table.
A triumph for the history books: not only did Mercedes-AMG achieve a top five lock-out in Saturday’s ADAC GT Masters race at the Red Bull Ring, but the victory was also the manufacturer’s 40th in the iconic series. First across the finish line were Jannes Fittje (Langenhain) and Finn Wiebelhaus (Obertshausen) from Haupt Racing Team, for whom it was the first win of the season. “I had a good start to the race, and relatively quickly found myself out in front. The race pace was super and the car was perfect. It was a lot of fun,” said Wiebelhaus, describing his race. His team-mate Fittje added: “My job was to catch the Ferrari in front, who was really quick. However, it all worked out well in the end. We have waited a long time for our first success of the season. I am delighted that we can finally take the big trophy home with us.” David Schumacher (Salzburg) and Salman Owega (Cologne) finished second in another Mercedes-AMG to make it an HRT one-two. They were followed home in third place by championship leaders Tom Kalender (Hamm/Sieg) and Finland’s Elias Seppänen, who extended their lead at the top of the table to 18 points.
Pole-sitter Max Reis (Ramstein), at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3, initially held onto the lead at the start, but was passed as early as turn three by his team-mate Wiebelhaus. Italian Fabrizio Crestani from Racing One caught the eye in his Ferrari 296 GT3 in the early stages, as he raced into second place from sixth on the grid. By the time the pit stop window opened, Wiebelhaus and Crestani had pulled clear of the rest of the field.
After the driver changeover, the drivers not only changed cockpits, but also positions. Austrian Ernst Kirchmayr took the lead in a Ferrari. Fittje slotted in behind him in the Mercedes-AMG and first closed the gap to the leader, before passing him and bringing home the race win. Kirchmayr subsequently slipped back through the field and into sixth place. He was first overtaken by Owega, who was visibly happy with second place: “We had a great race, in which we finally made it back onto the podium. The battle with Elias was the most fun – that was great.” It was also a successful race for third-placed Seppänen, who, alongside Kalender, had battled through from twelfth on the grid: “We tried to focus entirely on our race and pay less attention to our rivals in the championship. It is obviously fantastic to have extended our lead in the table.”
Fourth to see the chequered flag were Reis and his South African team-mate Kwanda Mokoena. Hubert Haupt (Munich) and Dennis Fetzer (Buseck) came home fifth to take victory in the ProAm class. In doing so, team owner Haupt completed a memorable day for his team: in the history of the series, no other team has landed four cars in the top ten, won the race and claimed a class victory. Sixth place went to Ferrari drivers Kirchmayr and Crestani, ahead of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 of Simon Connor Primm (Großschirma) and Jonas Greif (Coswig/both Paul Motorsport) in seventh. Frenchman Loris Cabirou and Taylor Hagler from the USA ended the race in eighth place in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 run by Grasser Racing Team. The pair currently second in the championship, Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main) and Maxime Oosten from the Netherlands, finished ninth in the FK Performance BMW M4 GT3. Rounding out the top ten were the Holzem twins Sandro and Juliano (both Polch) in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 for Land Motorsport.
The ADAC GT Masters drivers return to action at 10:20 on Sunday with the second qualifying session of the weekend. SPORT1 will broadcast Sunday’s race from 15:00, while the race will also be streamed live in German and English at youtube.com/@ADACMotorsports.
