Surprise win for Lamborghini duo Ineichen and Engelhart in ADAC GT Masters

• Rolf Ineichen and Christian Engelhart win second race at Oschersleben
• Two Audis on podium after thrilling final stage
• Late penalty for race leaders Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig

Oschersleben: Fans watching the season opener of the 2016 ADAC GT Masters were treated to racing at its best. The second round of the season at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben had it all, especially a last few laps in which Trophy contestant Rolf Ineichen (37, CH) and Christian Engelhart (29, DEU, both GRT Grasser Racing Team) ended up surprise winners in their Lamborghini Huracán. Finishing second and third respectively were the two Audi R8s driven by Connor De Phillippi (23, USA) and Christopher Mies (26, DEU, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) and by Florian Stoll (34, DEU) and Laurens Vanthoor (24, B, both kfzteile24 - APR Motorsport). “I would never have expected this,” said series newcomer Rolf Ineichen. “I went into my first ADAC GT Masters weekend with no expectations at all, and then come away with the race win. Many thanks to the GRT Grasser Racing Team for giving me the chance to drive in this great racing series.”

Race stoppage after collision at start

The second race started the same way that the first ended. Luca Ludwig (27, DEU, AMG - Team Zakspeed) went into the lead from pole position in the Mercedes-AMG but was recalled to the grid when the race was red-flagged after an accident at the start on the first turn. Ludwig kept the lead after the restart behind the safety car, followed by two Audi R8s driven by Vanthoor and Mies.

Sebastian Asch (29, DEU), Ludwig’s team-mate, continued in the lead after the driver changeover. Somewhat surprisingly, he was followed out onto the track by Ineichen, who had taken over the Lamborghini Huracán from team-mate Engelhart in fourth place and passed the two Audis in the pits. While Asch drew away out in front, Connor De Phillippi, team-mate to Mies, went on a charge from fourth place. First he overtook the Audi driven by Stoll and then put Rolf Ineichen under pressure.

A late safety car deployment in response to a collision between Lamborghini driver Patrick Kujala (19, FIN) and Bentley driver Fabian Hamprecht (20, DEU) bunched the field up once again. Asch maintained his lead and was first to take the chequered flag but was subsequently handed a 30-second time penalty for an infringement of the rules at the restart behind the safety car. And so, the win went to Ineichen and team-mate Engelhart. Asch and Ludwig were relegated to P22. The Lamborghini pair also won the Trophy class. Ineichen’s maiden win in the ADAC GT Masters is the first overall victory for an amateur driver in the Super Sports Car League since 2012. De Phillippi and Mies in second place won the Junior category, as they had done in the first race.

Mercedes pair Nikolaj Rogivue (19, CH) and Felix Rosenqvist (24, S, both AMG - Team Zakspeed) in fourth place were pleased to rack up their first points of the season as they finished behind Stoll & Vanthoor in P3. Christiaan Frankenhout (34, NL) and Christopher Haase (28, DEU, both Car Collection Motorsport) in another Audi R8 took P5 from Robert Renauer (31, DEU) and Martin Ragginger (27, A, both Precote Herberth Motorsport) in the best placed of the Porsche 911s. Markus Winkelhock (35, DEU) and Markus Pommer (25, DEU, both Phoenix Racing) brought their Audi R8 home in seventh position ahead of Jesse Krohn (25, FIN) and DTM star Martin Tomczyk (34, DEU, both Schubert Motorsport) in the new BMW M6. Patrick Assenheimer (23, DEU) and Dominik Schwager (39, DEU, both Callaway Competition) in the best-placed Corvette C7 together with Isaac Tutumlu-Lopez (30, E) and Kelvin van der Linde (19, ZA, both Car Collection Motorsport) in an Audi R8 completed the Top Ten.

Comments from the winners

Rolf Ineichen (GRT Grasser Racing Team, Lamborghini Huracán): “Thanks first of all to my GRT Grasser Racing Team and to my team-mate Christian Engelhart. Without their preparatory work, this brilliant victory would not have been possible. When I was in second place towards the end of the race, I gave it everything I’d got to defend the position against Connor (De Phillippi). If I’d made the slightest mistake, he would have overtaken me. The late safety car deployment obviously played into our hands. As regards the penalty imposed on Sebastian Asch which handed us the race win, I only heard about it by radio after I’d crossed the finish line. To have clinched the overall victory in such a strong series as the ADAC GT Masters despite being first and foremost a Trophy contestant makes me very proud.”

Christian Engelhart (GRT Grasser-Racing-Team, Lamborghini Huracán): “What a sensational win. I would never have expected such an outcome. Hats off to Rolf for putting in this really strong performance on his first ever ADAC GT Masters race weekend. Clearly, the circumstances with the safety car and the penalty for Asch and Ludwig played into our hands. I was a bag of nerves right up until the end. My first-half stint had its ups and downs. I was involved in the collision at the start but then managed to make good a few positions. I was ultimately happy about going into the driver changeover in P4.”