Championship leaders Owega and Wiebelhaus claim commanding win at the Red Bull Ring

• Second win for Haupt Racing Team with the Ford Mustang GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters
• Local favourites Razoon – more than Racing finish on the podium at their home event
• Guest starters Crestani and Kirchmayr win the Pro-AM Cup in a Ferrari 296 GT3

Knittelfeld. Ford triumph and a potentially decisive result in the title race at the Red Bull Ring. Championship leaders Salman Owega (20/Cologne) and Finn Wiebelhaus (19/Obertshausen/Haupt Racing Team) won Sunday’s ADAC GT Masters race in a Ford Mustang GT3. The second win of the season saw the duo extend its lead at the top of the championship to 40 points, as their closest rivals Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen) and Leyton Fourie (19/RSA/FK Performance Motorsport) could do no better than eighth place in their BMW M4 GT3 Evo. “I am delighted that we have won here. The Red Bull Ring is one of my favourite circuits and I am happy to have repeated my win from last year,” said a beaming Wiebelhaus, who also won the “Road to DTM” classification. “We now have a big lead in the championship and can win in Hockenheim. At the same time, we could also have two DNFs and lose everything, so I am not celebrating yet.” His team-mate Owega added: “It doesn’t get any better than this result. I would like to thank everyone who played a part in this success. We will now continue to apply pressure and hopefully come out on top in Hockenheim.” Second place went to twins Sandro and Juliano Holzem (21/Polch/Schubert Motorsport) in a BMW M4 GT3 Evo. Completing the podium were local favourites Razoon – more than Racing, with Leo Pichler (23/AT) and Simon Birch (18/DNK) at the wheel of the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Wiebelhaus defended pole position at the start and, joined by guest starter Fabrizio Crestani (37/ITA/Baron Motorsport) in a Ferrari 296 GT3m pulled clear of the rest of the field. Ahead of the pit stop, this duo had opened a ten-second gap ahead of the third-placed car. When Crestani came in to hand over to Ernst Kirchmayr (69/AUT), regulations allowed the Ferrari to spend 15 seconds less in the pit lane than the Ford Mustang GT3. As a result, Kirchmayr came out ahead of the Ford Mustang GT3. The same was true of the second Pro-AM duo of Alexander Schwarzer (36/DEU) and Alexander Fach (23/CHE/Fach Auto Tech) in a Porsche, who also rejoined the race ahead of Owega. However, within a few laps the championship leader in the ADAC GT Masters had passed first the Porsche and then the Ferrari. Owega went on to cross the finish line with a commanding lead of 21.697 seconds. “I knew that both the Ferrari and the Porsche would pass me during the pit stop. However, I had absolutely no concerns about whether I would be back out in front come the end of the race. They also drove very fairly,” stressed Owega. While Kirchmayr spent several laps battling it out for victory in the Pro-AM Cup, the BMW M4 GT3 Evo with Sandro Holzem at the wheel was closing in from behind. His brother Juliano had previously guided the car into fourth place from eighth on the grid. “When I saw them both in front of me, I immediately knew that there was a good chance to finish second. I considered where I could get past them without taking any unnecessary risks,” said Sandro Holzem. “We are happy with second place. We changed a few things overnight, and they worked out. We really had some speed in the car.”

Razoon also produced an impressive fightback. Local racer Pichler started the race from tenth place, and handed the Porsche over to his team-mate Birch in ninth. The Dane tirelessly worked his way through the field and eventually crossed the finish line just 0.080 seconds behind the runners-up. “We had a good strategy. Lap by lap, I drove the others into making mistakes, and overtook them one after another. In the end, we only just missed out on second place. However, we are very pleased with what is a nice way to finish after a very difficult weekend.” Team-mate Pichler from the Austrian town of Weiz, was delighted with the podium at his home race. “I am unbelievably happy. I had dreamed of a podium in the ADAC GT Masters here at home. It is really cool to have now achieved that dream. We were very nervous on the pit wall, but knew that Simon would do his best.”

With Dennis Fetzer (24/Gießen) and Jonathan Cecotto (26/VEN), and the pairing of Max Reis (18/Ramstein) and Niklas Kalus (20/Duisburg), the top five was completed by the remaining drivers lining up in a Ford Mustang GT3 for Haupt Racing Team. Yesterday’s winners Nico Hantke (21/Hürth) and Denis Bulatov (26) were sixth in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2. Seventh place, and victory in the Pro-AM Cup went to guest starters Crestani and Kirchmayr in a Ferrari. Zimmermann and Fourie, currently second in the championship, produced a spirited drive with many battles, but could do no better than eighth. Schwarzer and Fach came home ninth in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jannes Fittje (26/Langenhain) and Moritz Wiskirchen (23/Euskirchen/SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm), who completed the top ten.

Owega and Wiebelhaus travel to Hockenheim as favourites
The grand finale of the ADAC GT Masters takes place on the DTM platform at the Hockenheimring from 3rd to 5th October. The title race will be decided in two sprint races at the iconic circuit near Mannheim. Owega and Wiebelhaus currently lead Fourie and Zimmermann by 40 points. Trailing the leaders by 54 points and with 56 still up for grabs, Pichler and Birch also have a mathematical chance of winning the Drivers’ Championship in the ADAC GT Masters. Tickets start at € 49 and are available at dtm.com. Admission is free for under 16s.