Victory in the 250th race: Schumacher and Owega make ADAC GT Masters history

A moment of glory at the Nürburgring: Mercedes-AMG drivers David Schumacher (Salzburg) and Salman Owega (Cologne) from Haupt Racing Team impressed on the way to their second victory of the season in the 250th race in the ADAC GT Masters. Having won the Saturday race, the two youngsters made it a brace of wins in the 40-minute sprint. “It is always rather special to win a milestone race and go down in the history books. However, it was not easy, as we were under a lot of pressure from our rivals throughout the entire race.

The additional weight initially helped us to get the tyres up to a good temperature. The grip deteriorated significantly in the final ten laps, but Salman did a good job,” said Schumacher, who picked up the trophy for this weekend’s best starter in the “Road to DTM” competition. Second place went to Finn Wiebelhaus (Obertshausen) and Jannes Fittje (Langenhain) in the second Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Haupt Racing Team. The BMW M4 GT3 of Maxime Oosten (NL) and Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main/FK Performance) completed the podium.

The Eifel was at its best for the start of the big race. When the ADAC GT Masters field got underway for the 250th time, it did so in glorious sunshine and temperatures around 21 degrees Celsius. Pole-sitter Schumacher immediately opened a small lead over the chasing pack. However, he came under constant pressure from fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Fittje. During the pit stop window, Alexander Fach from Fach Auto Tech took the lead in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, as the Swiss was the last to come into the pits for the driver changeover.

As a ProAm team, the Swiss outfit benefitted from the shortest stationary time, allowing Alexander Schwarzer (D) to rejoin the race at the head of the field. However, Owega and Wiebelhaus were already poised to pounce. “When I saw the Fach car in front of me, I immediately knew that I had to get past him as quickly as possible. My tyres were degrading all the time and the pressure from Finn was increasing constantly. In the end, everything went to plan and the win was the deserved reward,” said 19-year-old Owega, describing the closing stages.

Wiebelhaus also passed the Porsche and crossed the finish line in second place: “It is awesome to be back on the podium after the DNF on Saturday. It was also a great result for the team.” Köhler and Oosten demonstrated impressive race pace and battled their way to third place after a stunning fightback from tenth on the grid. “Unfortunately, we struggled with the car classification and set-up all weekend. We wanted to get the most out of today’s race, and we definitely did that with third place,” said Köhler. 

Guest starters Marcel Marchewicz (Schwetzingen) and Julian Hanses (Hilden/both Schnitzelalm Racing) came home fourth in their Mercedes-AMG GT3. Fifth place went to the Swiss pairing of Jean-Luc D´Auria and Alain Valente from Emil Frey Racing in a Ferrari 296 GT3. Championship leaders Tom Kalender (Hamm/Sieg) and Elias Seppänen (FIN/both Landgraf Motorsport) were sixth in their Mercedes-AMG GT3. Seventh across the finish line were Schwarzer and Fach, who were spun by another car whilst running an impressive third. Seventh place overall was still good enough to secure victory in the ProAm class. In eighth place were Jonas Greif (Coswig) and Simon Connor Primm (Großschirma/Paul Motorsport) in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, ahead of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Mike David Ortmann (Ahrensfelde) and Denis Bulatov (Cologne/both Walkenhorst Motorsport). Rounding out the top ten were the Kapfinger twins, Michael and Johannes (both Passau), in another Porsche 911 GT3 R for Team Joos by Twin Busch. Chandler Hull (USA) and Nico Hantke (Hürth/both Walkenhorst Motorsport) finished second in the ProAm class in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Completing the podium were Pablo Schumm (Heilbronn) and Jonas Karklys (LIT) in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2.

In the championship, Kalender and Seppänen continue to top the table with 117 points. Oosten and Köhler are second with 109 points. Seppänen also leads the “Road to DTM” competition with 136 points. The ADAC GT Masters returns to action from 30th August to 1st September at the spectacular “Ardennes Rollercoaster” that is Spa-Francorchamps. The iconic 7.004-kilometre circuit in Belgium is one of the most popular racetracks in Europe, with renowned and challenging passages like La Source, Raidillon and Les Combes. This year, the ADAC GT Masters returns to the current Formula 1 track for the third time. After the successful sprint and endurance premiere at the Nürburgring, fans can also look forward to this exciting new format when the series lines up at its second event outside of Germany.