Two podiums for MRS GT-Racing on its LMP3 debut. Racing Experience: Podium reward for night shift. Moritz Löhner: From sim racing to LMP3 via GT4.

Debutants impress at the first attempt: MRS GT-Racing made its first appearance in the Prototype Cup Germany in Hockenheim. “We did not even manage a roll-out, that is how new our Ligier is,” said team principal Karsten Molitor at the official test on Thursday. He recruited his driver Rory Penttinen (42/FIN) just a few days before the finale and both experienced highs and lows on the Saturday. The Finn collided with Oscar Tunjo (26/COL, Rinaldi Racing) at the start, and suffered a puncture for his troubles. Having come in to change the tyre, the only option was all-out attack. However, Penttinen was lost for words when he crossed the finish line in third place. “I never expected a podium,” he said, incredulous but happy. He backed up that performance with a second place on Sunday. “I think the secret is that we chose a good driver and an engineer with LMP3 experience, who was already familiar with the Ligier,” Molitor joked. “For us, this weekend was an initial test with the LMP3 car. In my opinion, it is perfect to be able to perform a test under real race weekend conditions. It allowed us to see immediately how we compare to the others.”

Stéphane Ratel and Dr. Gerd Ennser present the trophies: Stéphane Ratel attended the presentation ceremony after the race on Saturday. The Frenchman is founder and CEO of SRO, the company that looks after GT racing around the world. He had the honour of presenting the trophies to the three top teams in the penultimate race of this season’s Prototype Cup Germany. At the end of the first season, the champions were honoured during a big ADAC GT Masters celebration, at which they received their trophies from ADAC Sport President Dr. Gerd Ennser. Marvin Dienst (25/Lampertheim) and Berkay Besler (23/TUR, both Toksport WRT) were the inaugural champions. First place in the Junior competition went to Donar Munding (20/Stuttgart), while the best Trophy driver was Mathias Lüthen (41/Hamburg, both Mühlner Motorsport).

Fortune does not favour the Finns: Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport was on course for its first podium in Prototype Cup Germany in race one at the Hockenheimring, but lost out to Rory Penttinen in the closing stages. Sebastian Arenram (39/SWE) and Jesse Salmenautio (21/FIN, both Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport) increasingly found themselves struggling with engine issues as the race progressed, meaning Salmenautio was not at full strength as he strived to fend off Pentinnen’s late attacks. “It is a shame, but that is motorsport for you,” said team principal Marko Koiranen, who would have loved a podium for his team at the finale. And there was more bad news to come for the Finns: as the problems could not be solved on site, Arenram and Salmenautio were reduced to mere spectators on the Sunday.

Night shift at Racing Experience: Race one of the final weekend was practically over before it started for Sebastian von Gartzen (29/Butzbach, Racing Experience): Berkay Besler ploughed into his car on the opening lap. The 29-year-old managed to make his way to the pit lane, but was unable to continue. “Our Duqueine was pretty broken on the right side,” said Gary Hauser (30/LUX, Racing Experience), team-mate of von Gartzen. “There was damage on the right to the rims at the front and back, the rear track rod, the front wheel mount, the steering gear, various flaps, and the side boxes.” The mechanics drove to the team headquarters in Luxembourg to pick up the spare parts needed for the repairs. “They got back to Hockenheim at 01:00 and the night shift lasted until 05:50,” Hauser explained. “After that, they briefly went back to the hotel for a shower and breakfast, and then headed straight back to the circuit. As such, I am particularly pleased for this great team that we managed to qualify second and finished third in race two. That was a real team effort.”

Sim racer makes his debut in an LMP3 car: Lion Düker (20/Rottweil) and Moritz Löhner (23/Munich, Reiter Engineering) was the new pairing for Reiter Engineering. Löhner, in particular, has arrived at this point in his career via a rather unusual path, as the man from Munich comes from a sim racing background. He has won virtually everything in sim racing: the GT Masters, the Porsche Carrera Cup and the DTM. After a few outings in real GT4 cars, he has now made the step up to LMP3 racing. “The LMP3 is completely different to the GT4 I am used to,” said the Reiter driver. “It generates a huge amount of downforce; it feels completely different to be pushed onto the track in the corners. You first have to develop the necessary trust, in order to be able to push yourself to the limit in the corners. However, the brakes are also a challenge without ABS. I was surprised by how direct the steering is compared to in GT4.” It goes without saying that the sim racing professional had practiced beforehand in a simulator, and he was happy with his performance in the real race car. “I maybe had ten real LMP3 laps under my belt before the first race on Saturday. Given that, I am happy with my weekend.”