RACE 1 : Niederhauser and Müller give Rutronik Racing Porsche victory at Zandvoort

Rutronik Racing duo Patric Niederhauser and Sven Müller ignited their Sprint Cup title challenge with a brilliantly executed victory in today's opening contest at Zandvoort.

Starting third on the 41-car grid, the #96 Porsche crew managed a complicated race to perfection. It promotes Niederhauser and Müller to second in the Sprint Cup drivers' standings, just 4.5 points behind defending champions Lucas Auer and Maro Engel.

The #89 Lionspeed GP Porsche took the start from overall pole after a superb qualifying lap from Bastian Buss, who then showed impressive composure to maintain the advantage at the start. As a Bronze Cup entrant, his car would be required to meet a minimum time at its pit stop, meaning Buus was racing for class honours alongside teammate Bashar Mardini.

But for fellow Porsche racer Niederhauser, overall victory was the only objective. Appearing highly motivated from the start, the Swiss ace muscled past Gilles Magnus (#25 Saintéloc Racing Audi) through the opening sequence of corners and fell in behind Buus, who was running well at the head of the field.

The Maserati Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap to allow marshals to deal with a number of incidents. Among them, the #64 HRT Ford Performance machine made contact with two cars before finding the barriers, while the #14 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari lost its bonnet on the run to Turn 1.

When racing resumed Buus continued to lead from Niederhauser, while another front-runner was eliminated in a collision as Alessio Rovera (#51 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari) made contact with Ricardo Feller (#80 Lionspeed GP Porsche). This time, however, the race was able to proceed without a neutralisation.

The #96 Porsche stopped at the earliest opportunity and received a good service as Niederhauser handed over to Müller. The #25 Audi was a net second as Paul Evrard took the controls from Magnus, while a little further back the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG pulled out fractionally ahead of the #63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini.

This was judged to have been an unsafe release from the #48 crew. Maro Engel, who had taken over from Lucas Auer, was therefore handed a five-second time penalty to be added at the end of the race. Building this sort of gap over the chasing Lamborghini of Jordan Pepper would be a monumental task.

With the #96 Porsche several seconds up the road, this was a battle for P2. To win it, Engel needed to pass Evrard and then pull a five-second gap, but Pepper had a plan of his own. The South African made an opportunistic move on the defending Sprint Cup champion, then passed Evrard shortly after. Engel was eventually able to overhaul the #25 Audi, but any hope of a runner-up finish was gone.

Pepper was able to reduce Müller's advantage, though the German ace was sufficiently far ahead that he could manage his car to the finish. The Rutronik squad came home almost six seconds clear to earn its second Sprint Cup win following Niederhauser and Müller's breakthrough triumph in last year's closing race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Engel was able to do just enough to mitigate his five-second penalty and beat Evrard to the final spot on the podium. Nevertheless, the #25 Audi crew were able to celebrate victory in the Gold Cup class and a fine P4 finish overall.

The #32 Team WRT BMW was fifth, a fantastic result from 19th on the grid, followed by the #59 Garage 59 McLaren, the #78 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, the #9 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG and the #50 AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors Ferrari.

The #99 Tresor Attempto Racing Audi of Alex Aka and Ezequiel Perez Companc completed the overall top 10 and won the Silver Cup class. The car started from pole, though its race was by no means uneventful, with Perez Companc taking the chequered flag 12 places higher than Aka started.

The #69 Emil Frey Racing Ferrari and #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW were next on the road and completed the Gold Cup podium. They were followed by second and third in the Silver Cup, the #10 Boutsen VDS Mercedes-AMG and the #26 Saintéloc Racing Audi. Notably, the latter car set the fastest lap of anyone during today's race with youngster Lorens Lecertua at the wheel.

In the Bronze Cup, Mardini survived a late challenge from defending champion Darren Leung (#991 Paradine Competition BMW) to ensure that he and Buus captured a deserved victory on Lionspeed’s Sprint Cup debut. Third in class went to the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, a remarkable achievement given that the car was caught in an opening-lap incident that left it facing the wrong direction. 

Results are HERE