The third round of the ADAC GT Masters was run at the Czech race track Most, not far from the German/Czech border.
Jeffrey Schmidt had qualified the pink BWT Mücke Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 #26 on Pole Position, ahead of Marvin Kirchhöfer in the Callaway Competition Corvette C7 GT3 #1, and Christopher Zöchling in the MRS GT-Racing BMW M6 GT3 #14. In fourth place we had Markus Pommer in the MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 #47. These four cars were less than 0,1 of a second from each other!
BMW Team Schnitzer BMW #43 didn’t make the race today, since they had a damage to their suspension during the qualifying, that couldn’t be repaired.
But a lot could change in 60 minutes plus one lap of racing, which was started in bright sunshine.
When the 34 cars got the green flag, there were troubles right away.
7 cars were involved in a big crash in Turn 2. Both EFP by tece cars were involved, just like BWT Mücke Motorsport Audi #25, HB Racing Ferrari #7, Phoenix Racing Audi #6, Team ISR Audi #33, and Honda Team Schubert Motorsport #9. Phoenix Racing Audi #5, AutoArenA Motorsport Mercedes #84 and GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini #19 were also in the trouble during the first lap.
But out front, BWT Mücke Motorsport Audi #26 had kept the lead, while MRS GT-Racing BMW #14 had jumped the Callaway Competition Corvette #1, ahead of Precote Herberth Motorsport Porsche #99 and BMW Team Schnitzer #42.
Photo: Juergen Tap
After 8 minutes of clean up, the Safety Car entered the pits again.
YACO Racing Audi #50 received a drive-through due to Philip Geipel overtaking under Safety Car.
Kim Luis Schramm drove the Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing Mercedes #20 all the way up to 14th, since he was lucky to get his P21 starting car manoeuvred past all the troubles on Lap 1.
Mirko Bortolotti in the ORANGE1 by GRT Grasser Lambo #63 and Sheldon van der Linde in the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi #28 right up his bumper, but Bortolotti tried to make his Lambo even wider than it already was. The winner of Race 2 at Oschersleben was all the way back in 11th, as the best placed Lambo.
Ezequiel Perez Companc in the GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini #19 was once again unlucky, since he got a puncture one minute before the pitstop window opened. He entered the pit only a few seconds prior to the window opening, so the team had to do a third stop of the day, to change the driver.
Leader Schmidt chose to dive into the pits at the first possible chance, to get Stefan Mücke in the car.
Christopher Zöchling in the MRS-GT Racing #14 chose to stay on the track for a few more laps compared to the nearest competitors, but that didn’t pay off. They fell all the way back to P6 due to getting out in a lot of traffic.
Photo: Gruppe C Photography
BWT Mücke Motorsport #26 was still ahead of the race after tall the pistops, but with Callaway Competition Corvette #1 behind and Precote Herberth Motorsport Porsche #99 in third.
Car Collection Motorsport Mercedes #8 went straight in Turn 1, and had to navigate through a tire chicane, before being able to rejoin. But that required a bit of reversing, since the dimensions and steering angles on the Mercedes didn’t allow him to just drive through. But Lance David Arnold was out of the points anyway.
Mathieu Jaminet in the Precote Herberth Motorsport Porsche #99 had Maximilian Buhk in the MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes #48 right behind him, but the Porsche driver was able to keep the Mercedes guy behind him.
Maximilian Hackländer in the Aust Motorsport Audi #4 had a solo spin, but manage to time the spin to last the full 360 degrees.
Maximilian Götz had to park the MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes #47, since the car all of a sudden slowed down to near dead stick on the track.
Photo: Gruppe C
Timo Scheider in the BMW Team Schnitzer #42 was under a lot of pressure from from Sebastian Asch in the Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing #21, and at the same time they were closed in by Claudia Hürtgen in the RWT Racing Corvette #13. Kelvin van der Linde in the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi #28 and Andrea Caldarelli i ORANGE1 by GRT Grasser Lamborghini #63 also joined the party.
But there weren’t any more changes at the top, with BWT Mücke Motorsport Audi #26 driven by Stefan Mücke and Jeffrey Schmidt winning the race in dominant style ahead of Callaway Competition Corvette #1 and Precote Herberth Motorsport Porsche #99.
The second race of the weekend will be run tomorrow Sunday, where a new Qualifying session will be run in the morning.
