Porsche triumph again at Red Bull Ring with win for Farnbacher/Kentenich

• Maiden victory for ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Farnbacher
• Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Andreas Wirth narrowly miss out on podium
• Corvette driver Toni Seiler victorious in amateur stakes

Under clear blue skies and against the magnificent backdrop of the Alps, ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Mario Farnbacher (20, Ansbach) and Porsche 911 partner Niclas Kentenich (24, Neuss / Farnbacher ESET Racing) claimed their first win of the 2012 season at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Robert Renauer (27, Jedenhofen) and Nicolas Armindo (39, France / FROGREEN CO2 neutral) made it a one-two victory for Porsche. With a flawless performance and strong pursuit, the Ford GT pair of Nico Verdonck (26, Belgium) and Jesse Krohn (21, Finland / Lambda Performance) ended an exciting race in third position. “We thought a podium was achievable,” said Farnbacher, commenting on his maiden victory in the ADAC GT Masters. “We certainly weren’t expecting to win, so as you can imagine, we are all the more

Key facts, Red Bull Ring, Austria

Length of track: 4,326 metres
Weather: 22°C, sunny
Pole position for Race 2: Philipp Eng (MRS GT-Racing-McLaren MP4-12C), 01:30.619 mins
Winner of Race 2: Mario Farnbacher/Niclas Kentenich (Farnbacher ESET Racing-Porsche 911)
Fastest race lap: Daniel Keilwitz (Callaway Competition-Corvette) 01:31.721 mins

Corvette pair Daniel Keilwitz and Diego Alessi dominate race

Farnbacher/Kentenich’s first victory of the season at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday was made possible by a fair amount of luck and the fact that they ran a faultless race. Championship leaders Diego Alessi (40, Italy) and Daniel Keilwitz (23, Villingen / Callaway Competition) were on course for a win in the Corvette with just six minutes to go before the clock ran out. Starting from third place on the grid, Keilwitz took charge going into the very first turn and had built up a ten-second lead on the rest of the pack ahead of the driver changeover. That lead was reduced to three seconds when Diego Alessi took over from Keilwitz for the second half of the race. However, the Italian was still clearly heading for victory when, with four laps to go, the Corvette was forced to retire due to a technical problem.

Farnbacher benefited from the Callaway duo’s misfortune, took the lead and went on to secure the first victory for an ADAC Sports Foundation driver in the ADAC GT Masters. With the Corvette of Alessi/Keilwitz still stranded on the start/finish straight, the race director sent out the safety car, and for the first time ever, an ADAC GT Masters race ended under yellow flags. “I’m sorry for the Corvette, but it’s just part and parcel of racing,” said Farnbacher afterwards. “I had a very good start, but then I held back a little, which paid off in the end,” said a happy Niclas Kentenich. “It was a gifted win, that’s true, but then, that’s just motor racing.”

Renauer/Armindo also had a faultless race but lost quite a few places during an action-packed start. They then subsequently fought their way back to the front and repeated their success from Race 1 by finishing second once more. Jesse Krohn/Nico Verdonck also proved their robustness in a prolonged duel in the second half of the race with the Corvette of Heinz-Harald Frentzen (45, Neuss) and Andreas Wirth (27, Heidelberg / Callaway Competition). Frentzen/Wirth had to be content with fourth, their best placing so far in the 2012 season. Sascha Bert (36, Ober-Ramstadt) and Christopher Brück (27, Cologne / Gemballa Racing) also have cause for satisfaction; after a strong race, they came home in fifth place, securing the best result to date for the McLaren MP4-12C in the ADAC GT Masters.

Toni Seiler back in contention after lean period

The Corvette pairing of Toni Seiler (54, Switzerland) and Frank Kechele (25, Ulm / Callaway Competition) finished the race in sixth position. P6 in the overall classification was enough to give two-time amateur champion Seiler his first win in the non-pro competition since late 2010. In his second-half stint, Seiler managed to hold off the challenge of the best-placed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driven by reigning champion Alexandros Margaritis (27, Cologne) and Lance David Arnold (26, Duisburg / SCHÖNER WOHNEN Polarweiss Team HEICO). Audi R8 duo Edward Sandström (33, Sweden) and Christopher Mies (23, Heiligenhaus / Prosperia uhc speed) worked their way up the field to finish eighth ahead of Maximilian Buhk (19, Dassendorf) / Andreas Simonsen (22, S / HEICO Junior Team) in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and Claudia Hürtgen (40, Aachen) / Dominik Schwager (35, Munich) in a BMW Z4.

Dolenc and Bourdeaux complete amateur podium

Swen Dolenc (44, Maulbronn) and Martin Ragginger (24, Austria / FACH AUTO TECH) in their Porsche 911 missed out on a potential Top Five finish after being handed two penalties by the stewards, one for an incident at the start of the race and the other for leaving the pit too early. Even so, the result was sufficient for Dolenc to finish the race second in the amateur class ahead of fellow Porsche driver René Bourdeaux (37, Munich / Team GT3 Kasko). Also hit with a double penalty were the winners of Race 1 on Saturday, Christian Engelhart (25, Kösching) and Nick Tandy (27, GB / Team Geyer & Weinig EDV – Schütz Motorsport); after making a promising start to the race, the Porsche 911 duo could finish no higher than P25.