Dutchman Oosten also takes class victory in the “Road to DTM”. Seppänen and Kalender defend their lead in the ADAC GT Masters. First ADAC GT Masters podium for David Schumacher.
Excitement all the way: Dutchman Maxime Oosten and Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main/both FK Performance) claimed their second victory of the season in the BMW M4 GT3, winning an eventful fourth race of this year’s ADAC GT Masters at Circuit Zandvoort. “Winning in front of your home fans is a fantastic experience. And we managed to close the gap to the championship leaders. I am mega happy,” said local favourite Oosten after victory on Sunday. His partner Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main) was also delighted: “A perfect finish. After the difficulties at the start of the weekend, I am all the more thrilled with this success.” Second place went to the Fach Auto Tech duo of Alexander Fach (CH) and Alexander Schwarzer (D) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, who also won the Pro-Am class. David Schumacher (Salzburg) and Salman Owega (Cologne), at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Haupt Racing Team, finished third overall and second in the Silver Cup. This was the first podium for Schumacher at only his second weekend in the series.
The fourth race of the season produced a feast of race action at the 4.259-kilometre circuit, which is nestled in the dunes on the north coast of the Netherlands. After a safety car phase at the start, race control issued a number of penalties, which resulted in a new order at the front of the field. One of the victims was pole-sitter Simon Connor Primm (Großschirma) in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, who made a false start and consequently had to complete a penalty lap. The new leader was Mike David Ortmann (Ahrensfelde) in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. However, he was powerless to stop Oosten passing him shortly before the pit stop window opened. Köhler then took over at the wheel of the leading BMW M4 GT3, and went on to complete the win. Fach and Schwarzer made great progress through the field, recovering from twelfth place to finish second. This result was particularly pleasing for Schwarzer: “I am totally overwhelmed. As I sat on the pit wall and saw how far in front we were, I was totally nervous. The joy knew no bounds when we crossed the finish line.”
Schumacher and defending champion Owega completed the podium. They dropped back to eighth place after receiving a penalty at the start of the race, but managed to work their way back towards the front of the field. “We lost a few positions due to the penalty, but were able to regain most of those by the finish. We would obviously have liked to finish higher, but we can be happy with that result in the end,” said Schumacher.
The Kapfinger twins, Johannes and Michael, finished fourth for Team Joos by TwinBusch in their Porsche 911 GT3 R. That was enough to earn them third place in the Silver Cup. Ortmann and Denis Bulatov (Cologne/both Walkenhorst Motorsport) came home fifth in their Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Jannes Fittje (Langenhain) and Finn Wiebelhaus (Obertshausen) from Haupt Racing Team crossed the finish line in sixth place in a Mercedes-AMG GT3, followed by Jean-Luc D`Auria and Alain Valente (both CHE) in an Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. Eighth place went to Saturday’s winners Tom Kalender (Hamm/Sieg) and Elias Seppänen from Landgraf Motorsport in another Mercedes-AMG GT3. Eduardo Coseteng (RP) and Grégory de Sybourg (CHE) from FK Performance Motorsport took ninth place in a BMW M4 GT3. Behind them, Benjamin Hites (CHL) and Tim Zimmermann (Langenargen) ended the race in tenth place in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 run by Grasser Racing Team.
Four races into the season, Kalender and Seppänen top the table with 84 points, ahead of Oosten and Köhler on 77 points. The Nürburgring hosts the third race weekend from 12th to 14th July, when the ADAC GT Masters reaches the halfway point of the season.
