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26.08.2012 - ADAC GT Masters
Double joy for Porsche duo of Engelhart/Tandy at Lausitzring
- Engelhart and Tandy make it two wins out of two
- Engelhart consolidates championship lead with fourth victory of season
- Corvette man Seiler triumphs in amateur classification
The mood changed to unbridled joy for some and bitter disappointment for others in the last two laps of the ADAC GT Masters at the Lausitzring as the Porsche duo of Swen Dolenc (44, Maulbronn) and Martin Ragginger (24, Austria / FACH AUTO TECH) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with a terminal trip into the gravel. The main beneficiaries of the slip-up were fellow Porsche drivers Christian Engelhart (25, Kösching) and Nick Tandy (27, GB / Team Geyer & Weinig EDV – Schütz Motorsport) who went on to repeat their winning performance of Saturday. Runners-up to the winning Porsche 911 were Claudia Hürtgen (40, Aachen) and Dominik Schwager (35, Munich / Schubert Motorsport) in their BMW Z4 ahead of the third-placed Corvette driven by Daniel Keilwitz (23, Villingen) and Diego Alessi (40, Italy / Callaway Competition). In a thrilling sprint to the line, the first five cars all finished within 2.4 seconds of each other. “This whole weekend has gone like a dream,” said a delighted Engelhart after consolidating his championship lead with a fourth victory of the season.
Key facts, Lausitzring, Race 2
Length of track: 4,534 metresWeather: 24ºC, cloudy
Pole position for Race 2: Martin Ragginger (FACH AUTO TECH-Porsche 911) 01:43.351 mins
Winner of Race 2: Christian Engelhart/Nick Tandy (Team Geyer & Weinig EDV – Schütz Motorsport-Porsche 911)
Fastest race lap: Dino Lunardi (ALPINA-BMW ALPINA B6) 01:44.739 mins (New lap record for ADAC GT Masters at Lausitzring)
Ragginger and Dolenc in control for most of race
Until the penultimate lap, it had seemed as if the Dolenc/Ragginger partnership was assured of a comfortable victory in their Porsche 911. Pole-setter Ragginger won the sprint to the first corner and was able to put distance between himself and his pursuers. By the time he handed the wheel to team-mate Dolenc, the Austrian had built up a 6.5-second cushion over Nick Tandy and Maximilian Götz (26, Uffenheim / kfzteile24 MS RACING Team) who had spent 30 minutes jostling for second place. After taking over from Ragginger, Dolenc put in some impressive driving. The amateur championship leader kept the chasing bunch firmly at bay, controlling the race and apparently heading for his greatest ever triumph in the ADAC GT Masters. Yet anticipation of victory turned to bitter disappointment as Dolenc found himself stranded in the gravel on the penultimate lap. “For reasons as yet unknown the car wouldn’t decelerate, so Swen skidded straight into the gravel,” said Alex Fach, team principal for Dolenc/Ragginger. Christian Engelhart, who had to defend second place firstly against Sebastian Asch (26, Ammerbuch / kfzteile24 MS RACING Team) and then against Claudia Hürtgen in her BMW Z4, took over as lead Porsche to end the race on victory number four of the season.“I certainly wasn’t counting on winning,” said Engelhart after the race. “In fact, I spent most of the time holding off the chasing pack. They must have thought I was a brick wall today.” Team-mate Tandy concurs: “I also found the first half of the race really tough because of constant pressure from behind. We had been hoping that Dolenc might crumble under the pressure in the second stint. Fortunately, we ourselves drove a perfect race from start to finish. The key to victory today, as was the case on Saturday, was a favourable position on the starting grid, because this meant no-one was able to get past us during the race.”
Chasing pack in photo finish
Claudia Hürtgen und Dominik Schwager crossed the finish line just 0.7 seconds behind the race winners after Hürtgen pulled off a successful pass on Mercedes driver Sebastian Asch. The son of touring car legend Roland Asch was struggling with gearbox troubles and ultimately had to yield third place to Alessi and Keilwitz in their Corvette. Maximilian Buhk (19, Dassendorf) and Andreas Simonsen (22, Sweden / HEICO Junior Team) had also fancied their chances of a podium today in their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. In the end, though, they finished fifth, missing out by just 1.2 seconds.The best-performing Audi R8 was driven by Edward Sandström (33, Sweden) and Christopher Mies (23, Heiligenhaus / Prosperia uhc speed) who took sixth place ahead of reigning champion Alexandros Margaritis (27, Cologne) and Lance David Arnold (26, Duisburg / SCHÖNER WOHNEN Polarweiss Team HEICO) in their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Completing the Top Ten were the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Florian Stoll (31, Rickenbach) and Daniel Dobitsch (28, A / kfzteile24 MS RACING Team), the BMW Z4 driven by the Dutch pairing of Jeroen den Boer (25) and Simon Knap (23 / DB Motorsport), and the Porsche 911 of Mario Farnbacher (20, Ansbach) and Niclas Kentenich (24, Neuss / Farnbacher ESET Racing).
