De Phillippi and Mies register first Audi victory of the 2016 ADAC GT Masters

• Maiden win for new Audi R8 in the ADAC GT Masters
• Stoll and Vanthoor make it an Audi one-two
• Two Porsches in third and fourth place

Nürburg: It’s an Audi one-two finish at the Nürburgring! Connor De Phillippi (23, USA) and Christopher Mies (27, DEU, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) celebrated their first victory of the 2016 season in the second of two races on the famous circuit in the Eifel forest. At the same time, it was a maiden win for the new Audi R8 in the Super Sports Car League. “With this victory, we have once again emphasised our will to win the 2016 ADAC GT Masters title,” said De Phillippi, who also had cause to celebrate a first personal win in the ADAC GT Masters. Four races before the end of the season, the title chase has got that much tighter with this outright win for the second-placed pairing, especially with the Corvette C7 of current championship leaders Jules Gounon (21, F) and Daniel Keilwitz (27, DEU, both Callaway Competition) failing to score any points on Sunday. Florian Stoll (35, DEU) and Laurens Vanthoor (25, B, both kfzteile24 APR Motorsport) as race runners-up made it an Audi one-two. The winners of Saturday’s race, David Jahn (25, Speyer) and Kévin Estre (27, F, both KÜS TEAM75 Bernhard), started from pole position in their Porsche 911 but ultimately had to settle for third.

Porsche duo initially keep Audi quartet at bay

Kévin Estre and Martin Ragginger (28, A, Precote Herberth Motorsport), who had been on the front row in two Porsches, defended their lead from a group of four Audi R8s as the tenth race of the season got underway. While Estre pulled out a small lead, the 911 of Ragginger in second place had to deal with pressure from the Audis of Christopher Mies and Laurens Vanthoor who were hot on his heels. A perfectly executed tactical move after the round of pit stops then led to a change in the lead. Team kfzteile24 APR Motorsport left the switch of drivers from Vanthoor to team-mate Stoll until the last possible moment. Thanks to Vanthoor posting a series of fast lap times right at the end of his stint, Stoll came out onto the track in P1, but he soon found himself under pressure from De Phillippi who had fought his way up into second place.

Stoll and De Phillippi fought a thrilling battle in their two Audis, from which the American eventually emerged the winner. At the finish line, he secured Montaplast by Land-Motorsport’s maiden win in the ADAC GT Masters. In the drivers’ standings, the pair took 25 points out of championship leaders Gounon and Keilwitz this Sunday, as the Corvette pair were forced to retire after a collision on the opening lap and came away without any points. Along with their overall win, Mies and De Phillippi also took victory in the Junior class, while second place for Stoll and Vanthoor represented their team’s best result of the season. Jahn and Estre were delighted to clinch another podium finish by narrowly snatching P3 from Robert Renauer (31, DEU) and Ragginger who finished fourth.

Defending champions Luca Ludwig (27, DEU) and Sebastian Asch (30, DEU, both AMG Team Zakspeed) crossed the finish line in fifth place. Peter Hoevenaars (21, NL) and Frédéric Vervisch (30, B, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) in an Audi R8 finished in the points for the second time this season and also came second in the Junior class. As in Saturday’s race, Rolf Ineichen (38, CH) and Christian Engelhart (29, DEU, both GRT Grasser-Racing-Team) in a Lamborghini Huracán achieved another good result with seventh place on Sunday. Ineichen once again won the Trophy class.

Top Ten finish despite starting far back on the grid: The Porsche 911 of Marvin Dienst (19, DEU) and Klaus Bachler (25, A, both bigFM Racing Team Schütz Motorsport) and the Audi R8 of Philip Geipel (29, DEU) and Rahel Frey (30, CH, both YACO Racing) finished eighth and ninth respectively. The Top Ten was rounded off by the Audi of series newcomer Dennis Busch (28, DEU) and Christopher Haase (28, DEU, both Car Collection Motorsport), who thus scored points in both races at the Nürburgring.

Comments from the winners

Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8): “After the bad luck we had with the puncture in Saturday’s race, the second race went really well. We were satisfied with our third place on the grid. Then I got off to a good start. In the early stages, it wasn’t possible to get past the two Porsches ahead of us. I concentrated on managing the tyres. In the second half of the race, Connor (De Phillippi) did a great job and overtook two cars. As the current championship leaders didn’t score any points today, we are now just 14 behind and back in contention for the title.”

Connor De Phillippi (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8): “It’s a fantastic scenario to come back and take the win after our bad luck on Saturday. We have once again emphasised our will to win the 2016 ADAC GT Masters title. I’m obviously delighted with this personal victory, but equally pleased about a maiden win for our team in the ADAC GT Masters and, of course, the first triumph of the new Audi R8 in this particular competition.”