Porsche duo Renauer and Müller win Saturday's race at the Motorsport Festival Lausitzring

• First ADAC GT Masters victory of the season for Precote Herberth Motorsport
• Luca Ludwig and Junior class winner Luca Stolz in a Mercedes-AMG finish second
• Perez Companc and Bortolotti secure first podium of 2017 for Lamborghini

Klettwitz: In an action-packed ADAC GT Masters race on Saturday held in the context of the Motorsport Festival Lausitzring, Robert Renauer (32, DEU) and Sven Müller (25, DEU, both Precote Herberth Motorsport) driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R claimed their first win of the season. Luca Stolz (21, DEU) and Luca Ludwig (28, DEU, both Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED) had led the race during the first stint but had to settle for second place after colliding with a lapped car. The Lamborghini pairing of Ezequiel Perez Companc (22, RA) and Mirko Bortolotti (27, ITA, both GRT Grasser Racing Team) took the remaining podium spot. “What a great feeling,” said a jubilant Müller after securing his maiden ADAC GT Masters victory. “We weren’t expecting to win this weekend. We are mega happy.”

Nail-biter with abundant wheel-to-wheel action

While pole-sitter Luca Stolz was successfully defending P1 on the first corner, Robert Renauer overtook Indy Dontje (24, NL, Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport) in the second of two Mercedes on the front row. A collision between the Audi of Filip Salaquarda (33, CZ, BWT Mücke Motorsport) and the Porsche of Klaus Bachler (25, AUT, Schütz Motorsport) led to a brief safety car deployment. Stolz and Renauer then pulled out a lead of just under nine seconds on the rest of the field. But on Lap 20, Stolz collided with the Audi driven by Christopher Mies (27, DEU, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) as it emerged from the pit lane and briefly spun off the track. Renauer seized the opportunity to take the lead. The Porsche then retained the position after Sven Müller took over in the cockpit. At the finish, the Porsche works driver had a lead of 1.5 seconds over the Mercedes-AMG now driven by Luca Ludwig who had relieved Luca Stolz at the mandatory pit stop and thereafter put the race leader under considerable pressure. This was a first win of the season for Precote Herberth Motorsport, a third win at the Lausitzring for Renauer and a maiden victory in the Super Sports Car League for co-driver Müller.

Stolz and Ludwig had to console themselves with the runner-up spot after the collision, but Stolz at least came away with a class victory in the Junior competition for drivers under 25 years of age. Ezequiel Perez Companc (22, RA) and Mirko Bortolotti (27, ITA, both GRT Grasser Racing Team) in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 joined the podium party in third place. The ArgentineItalian duo snatched P3 from Indy Dontje and Marvin Kirchhöfer (23, DEU) ten laps from the end. Completing the Top Five were Jules Gounon (22, FRA) and Daniel Keilwitz (27, DEU, both Callaway Competition) in the best of the Corvette C7 GT3-Rs.

In sixth place were Markus Pommer (26, DEU) and Kelvin van der Linde (20, ZA, both Aust Motorsport) in the best of the Audi R8 LMSs, and in seventh were Mathieu Jaminet (22, FRA) and Michael Ammermüller (31, DEU) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R entered by KÜS Team75 Bernhard. P8 went to local favourite Stefan Mücke (35, DEU) from Berlin and Sebastian Asch (30, DEU, both BWT Mücke Motorsport). The Mercedes-AMG duo dropped down the field from sixth to 15th after a no-fault collision on the first lap but subsequently staged an impressive recovery.

In P9 were Florian Spengler (29, DEU) and Christopher Zanella (27, CH, both Team HB Racing) in another Lamborghini. Picking up the final championship point in tenth were ADAC Formula 4 graduate Mike David Ortmann (17, DEU) and Frank Stippler (42, DEU, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) driving an Audi R8 LMS.

Comments from the winners

Robert Renauer (Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911): “The Lausitzring is a track that seems to suit us. Even though under normal circumstances a victory today would have been inconceivable. That’s because the Mercedes-AMG was simply too strong. But we gratefully accepted the collision between our opponents and then made sure that we saw the victory home. We have scored a lot of points and have taken over at the top of the table. I hope Sunday’s race goes just as well, so that we leave the Lausitzring as championship leaders.”

Sven Müller (Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911): “Robert did a great job in his stint. We obviously benefited from the accident involving the leading Mercedes-AMG. Towards the end, their driver was putting on a lot of pressure again. I had to push hard, but it was enough. It was quite exhausting near the end, because I’ve got a cold. I’m very happy, because this is not only my first victory in the ADAC GT Masters but also my first in a GT3 sports car.”