Ralf and David Schumacher triumph again in race two at the Nürburgring. Markus Pommer / Valentino Catalano finish runner-up and gain ground in the title race. Danny Soufi and Torsten Kratz remain out in front in the Drivers Championship.
Ralf (49/Salzburg) and David Schumacher (22/Salzburg, both US Racing) enjoyed a perfect weekend on their guest appearance in the Prototype Cup Germany: after setting the fastest time in every practice and qualifying session, and taking victory in Saturday’s race, the father-son duo in a Ligier LMP3 prototype claimed another commanding win in the Sunday race. Pole-sitter David Schumacher was unable to hold off Felipe Laser (36/Leipzig, Frikadelli Racing Team) at the start, but was back in front just a few laps later. Ralf Schumacher, at the wheel for the second half of the race, completed the success for the US Racing team run by himself and Gerhard Ungar. “David did the main job today,” he admitted, modestly. The former Formula 1 driver, making his return to active motorsport after twelve years away, emphatically underlined that he has definitely not lost it. Markus Pommer (33/Untereisesheim) and Valentino Catalano (18/Westheim, Gebhardt Motorsport) crossed the finish line in second place, ahead of Antti Rammo (41/EST, MRS GT-Racing) in third. Going into the final weekend at the Sachsenring at the start of September, Danny Soufi (21/USA) and Torsten Kratz (53/Mönchengladbach, both Konrad Motorsport) are still leading the way in the Drivers Championship. However, Pommer / Catalano have climbed into second place and reduced their lead to just nine points.
David Schumacher was behind the wheel for the start, and conceded first place to Laser for a few laps. “The start procedure here is a little different to the ADAC GT Masters, in which I usually drive. However, I was able to retake first place a few laps later. I then focussed on giving my father the biggest lead possible.” Father Ralf knew what he had to do, performed his role perfectly, and celebrated their second win of the weekend. The rest of the field had no chance against Schumacher / Schumacher in the two races. “I believe Formula 4 teams like our US Racing are very professional and know what they are doing. We were excellently prepared. It is important that the car is fast in all conditions, and we achieved that.” And Ralf and David Schumacher only had good things to say about the Prototype Cup Germany. “The series, the car and the whole concept are really good,” said Ralf. “The Prototype Cup Germany is a great product, the weekend was a lot of fun,” David added.
Rammo and Catalano, who took over the Gebhardt Duqueine from Pommer, also produced some thrilling LMP3 racing. Catalano was hot on Rammo’s heels for many laps, but only found a way past the Estonian on the final lap, when the ADAC Stiftung Sport protégé took advantage of a mistake from Rammo. The two solo starters Keanu Al Azhari (16/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport) and Stefan Aust (52/Münster, Rinaldi Racing) crossed the finish line behind Pommer / Catalano and Rammo. Julien Apothéloz (23/CHE) and Riccardo Leone Cirelli (16/ITA, both BWT Mücke Motorsport), who were involved in a collision with Kratz at the start, came home sixth, ahead of Luca Link (20/Günzberg) / Suellio Almeida (30/BRA, both DataLab Sports with Rinaldi). Kratz / Soufi dropped from sixth to eighth place due to a retrospective 30-secodn penalty for their part in the crash with the Mücke Duqueine at the start. However, they were still able to hang onto a slender lead in the championship.
Markus Pommer (second): “Today was much better than yesterday. I nearly got past David Schumacher at the start, but did not want to take too many risks so opted to pull out. After all, as a guest starter David does not get any points, and he would have been faster than us over the race distance anyway. On the whole, our car was far better today than yesterday, and easier to drive.”
Valentino Catalano (second): “I have to agree with Markus, the changes to the car were a step in the right direction. I felt really comfortable and the race was a lot of fun. I watched Antti Rammo in front of me for a long time, and saw that he was getting a little nervous. I then took a lot of momentum into the final lap and braked as late as possible. I did enough, and was able to take second place.”
Antti Rammo (third): “My goal was to drive a clean race and take advantage of the shorter stationary time during the pit stop. After the pit stop, I first overtook Klaus Abbelen and moved into second place. My job then was to keep Valentino Catalano behind me. Unfortunately, I got my braking wrong in turn one on the final lap. Because Valentino was carrying a lot of pace onto the straight, he was able to pull past me. However, I am still happy with third place.”
