Tom Kalender and Elias Seppänen claimed two podium finishes at the season-opener. Kapfinger twins take third place after furious fightback. 42,000 spectators enjoyed thrilling motorsport over the course of the weekend.
It was a virtually perfect weekend for Landgraf Motorsport: having finished runner-up in their Mercedes-AMG GT3 on Saturday at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Elias Seppänen (FIN) and Tom Kalender (Hamm/Sieg) went one better in race two on Sunday. “That was an unbelievable weekend! My first race outing in a GT3 car and my first win. It could not have gone better,” said Kalender, now the youngest race winner ever in the ADAC GT Masters. Seppänen was also delighted with the successful start to the season: “Tom soon adapted to the conditions in this series and did a super job. I am overjoyed and can hardly wait for the next races.” The Mercedes-AMG of Finn Wiebelhaus (Obertshausen) and Jannes Fittje (Langenhain/both Haupt Racing Team) came home second, ahead of Michael and Johannes Kapfinger (both Passau) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R for Team Joos by Twin Busch.
Pole-sitter David Schumacher (Salzburg) made an excellent start to the second race of the season and successfully stayed ahead of his rivals. He held onto the lead until the midway point of the race, but was then forced into the pits with a technical issue and, before the eyes of his team-mate Salman Owega (Cologne/both Haupt Racing Team), had no choice but to retire the Mercedes-AMG GT3. A perfectly executed pit stop allowed the Landgraf Mercedes-AMG of Seppänen and Kalender to take the lead, and they went on to claim the victory. Wiebelhaus, who finished runner-up alongside Fittje, did not hold back in expressing his joy: “To finish on the podium against this impressive backdrop is an incredible experience. The atmosphere at the circuit was magnificent.” The Kapfinger twins produced a furious fightback, battling through from tenth on the grid to finish third and claim the final spot on the podium. Yesterday’s winners Maxime Oosten (NL) and Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main) came home fourth in the FK Performance BMW M4 GT3.
Fifth place went to Benjamin Hites (CHL) and Tim Zimmermann (Langenargen) in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 run by Grasser-Racing-Team, ahead of the Ferrari 296 GT3 of Jean-Luc D´Auria (CH) and Alain Valente (CH/both Emil Frey Racing). Mike David Ortmann (Ahrensfelde) and Denis Bulatov (Cologne) crossed the finish line seventh in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Walkenhorst Motorsport. They were followed home by the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Alexander Schwarzer (D) and Alexander Fach (CHE/both Fach Auto Tech), for whom eighth place also meant victory in the Pro-Am class. Max Reis (Ramstein) and Kwanda Mokoena (ZA) guided their Mercedes-AMG GT3 home in ninth place for Haupt Racing Team, ahead of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 of Simon Connor Primm (Großschirma) and Jonas Greif (Coswig/both Paul Motorsport).
Over the course of the opening weekend, the ADAC GT Masters drivers produced two fantastic races in front of 42,000 spectators. After the first two races of the season, Seppänen and Kalender top the Drivers’ Championship with 48 points, ahead of Oosten and Köhler with 41. Seppänen and Kalender also lead the “Road to DTM” competition. Next up for the drivers in the ADAC GT Masters is Circuit Zandvoort from 7th to 9th June. The second event takes place on the support programme for the DTM at the circuit nestled in the dunes on the Dutch North Sea coast.
