Torsten Kratz / Danny Soufi win third race at the Lausitzring. Markus Pommer and Valentino Catalano claim second spot. Antti Rammo finishes seventh after leading for long periods.
The third race in the Prototype Cup Germany, a replacement for one of the two races that did not take place in Spa-Francorchamps, delivered plenty of thrills in the second half with Torsten Kratz (53/Mönchengladbach) and Danny Soufi (20/USA, both Konrad Motorsport) first to cross the finishing line. The Konrad duo emerged victorious from the day’s two LMP3 races. “That was an unbelievable race from Danny, he won it for us,” said a jubilant Kratz, who was also the best Trophy driver. “I had problems getting the tyres to the right temperature.” “It was brilliant, I have never had so much fun in an LMP3 race,” revealed a beaming Soufi, who also picked up the trophy for the best Junior. The race at the Dekra Lausitzring featured a five-way battle for the lead for many laps, with Antti Rammo (41/EST, MRS GT-Racing) in front for long periods. However, the Estonian driver could not withstand the pressure and finished the race in seventh place. Markus Pommer (33/Untereisesheim) and Valentino Catalano (18/Westheim, both Gebhardt Motorsport) took the flag in second, while Riccardo Leone Cirelli (16/ITA) and Julien Apothéloz (23/CHE, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) claimed third place. Soufi and Kratz now lead the overall standings with 70 points, ahead of Catalano and Pommer, who have scored nine points fewer.
Keanu Al Azhari (16/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport) started the race from pole position, but the 16-year-old was unable to hold on to this advantage; in the end, it was Apothéloz who reached turn one first. Al Azhari slotted in behind the Swiss driver, followed by Pommer and Kratz. They raced in this order for just a few laps before the safety car brought the field together once more. This was due to the retirement of Jaime Guzmán (33/MEX, AF2 Motorsport), who rolled over on the track. Apothéloz remained in first place at the restart, and there was no change behind him. Al Azhari stayed within striking distance of leader Apothéloz during the pit stops, without ever getting close enough to put the Swiss driver in real jeopardy.
After the pit stops, Rammo slipped into the lead just ahead of Cirelli, who took over the car from Apothéloz, and Al Azhari. This developed into a thrilling battle for the top positions. It was initially Catalano, Pommer’s team-mate, and Soufi who closed up on the trio. They swapped positions within the group of five on a regular basis, until Soufi mounted a daring attack on Rammo and overtook the Estonian. The new leader was able to pull away immediately, but Al Azhari spun out after making contact while attacking Rammo. Rammo then proceeded to take a spin a short time later and headed for the pits, having already been passed by Catalano and Cirelli. Soufi and Kratz then crossed the line first to take victory, followed by Pommer / Catalano and Cirelli / Apothéloz. Klaus Abbelen (63/Barweiler) and Felipe Laser (34/Leipzig, both Frikadelli Racing Team) managed to work their way up to fourth during the closing phase, while fifth place went to Sven Barth (43/Eberbach) / Maxim Dirickx (20/BEL, both Gebhardt Motorsport). Al Azhari and Rammo had to be content with sixth and seventh positions.
Markus Pommer (second place): “I didn’t want to take any risks at the start and kept hold of third place. I wanted to stay as close as possible to the two guys in front of me, but I was about a second back at the first driver changeover. Unfortunately, we were unable to use the pit stop to take the lead. I am happy with the result nonetheless.”
Valentino Catalano (second place): “It was a race with plenty of action and lots of strategic decisions too. I wanted to take it easier at the start of my stint and keep an eye on the drivers ahead of me, but then it all came thick and fast. I still tried to look after my tyres as much as possible, to make sure I would still be able to attack at the end of the race. I am really pleased with that second place.”
Julien Apothéloz (third place): “At the start, I was clearly aiming to take the lead, and I managed to do that. Then I wanted to build up a lead so that I would still be first after the pit stop. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out, as Antti Rammo came back onto the track a few metres ahead of us. Riccardo then did a brilliant job in the second stint, which made sure we would finish third.”
Riccardo Leone Cirelli (third place): “That was a crazy race. I went off the track during an overtaking manoeuvre and fell back to fifth place. It is good that we managed to reach third place at the end, and we scored a few points.”
