Corvette duo Alessi & Keilwitz win Red Bull Ring thriller

• Closest finish in the history of the ADAC GT Masters
• Variety: Top Six made up of six different Marques
• Victory for René Bourdeaux restores lead in Gentlemen class

The ADAC GT Masters weekend at the Red Bull Ring in Austria got the second half of the season off to a cracking start. Race 2 was a slipstream battle for its full 39-lap duration, with Diego Alessi (41) and Daniel Keilwitz (24) in their Callaway Competition Corvette ultimately prevailing over Maximilian Götz (27) and Maximilian Buhk (20) in their Polarweiss Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG by a margin of 0.233 seconds, the narrowest in the history of the ADAC GT Masters. The Dutch pairing of Simon Knap (24) and Jeroen den Boer (25) in the DB Motorsport BMW Z4 completed the podium party in third place. The finish was not only the closest in the annals of the competition but also entertained the fans at this picturesque venue in the Styrian Alps with the unusual sight of six super sports cars from different manufacturers crossing the finish line in the Top Six. "We were expecting to finish today's race as runners-up," said Diego Alessi after securing back-to-back victories, "but Daniel handed over to me with our car in the lead. In the circumstances, it would have been ungracious to bring home any other result than a race win."

Götz and Buhk tail Corvette for full distance

The Corvette of Alessi and Keilwitz led Sunday's race for all but the first 1,000 metres. Dominik Schwager (36) in the Lambda Performance Ford GT defended pole position through the first corner, but Keilwitz then seized the lead on Turn 2 as Schwager took the outside line. Maximilian Buhk in the gullwing Mercedes also profited from the wide arc taken by the Ford to move into second and launch a furious pursuit of Keilwitz. For the remainder of the first stint, the Mercedes-Benz was just 0.6 seconds behind the Corvette. The order remained the same after the mandatory pit stop, but the tension increased dramatically as Götz too clung on to the Corvette now driven by Alessi and used the slipstream effect to narrow the gap to 0.3 seconds. The defending ADAC GT Masters champion put the Italian under unremitting pressure right through to the end but ultimately had to settle for the runner-up spot in a photo finish. P2 was nonetheless good enough to take Götz and Buhk to the top of the championship table with six races remaining.

Alessi was ecstatic after claiming his fifth ADAC GT Masters win: "I really don't know what to say. I'm just so happy. We won this race on the basis of our excellent straight-line speed, because I was having quite a few problems on the corners."

Keilwitz: "I had to concentrate really hard on exiting the corners, because that's where our main strength lies. The Mercedes was much better than us on the brakes. Our only chance was to accelerate fast out of the corners. This win gets us back into the title chase."

Excitement also in battle for third

The intense duel at the front also allowed the third and fourth-placed cars to close the gap on the leaders over the final laps. Den Boer and Knap in the DB Motorsport BMW Z4 timed their pit stop to perfection to move up from fifth to third but were under severe pressure from the Ford GT driven by Schwager and Kechele for the whole of the second stint. In fact, the first four were separated by a mere 1.4 seconds at the chequered flag.

Robert Renauer (28) and Martin Ragginger (25) of Tonino by Herberth Motorsport had the honour of driving the fastest of the Porsche 911s on Sunday, finishing in P5 ahead of René Rast (26) and Christopher Mies (24) in the best-placed Audi R8; for the Prosperia C Abt partnership, P6 was a reprise of their result on Saturday.

Win for Bordeaux restores lead in Gentlemen Standings

René Bourdeaux (38) in a Tonino by Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 notched up his fourth win of the season in the Gentlemen category to reclaim top spot in the standings. With the support of co-driver Alfred Renauer (28), also from Munich, Bourdeaux cruised to victory over Switzerland's Toni Seiler (55) in his Callaway Competition Corvette. Local favourite Gottfried Grasser (34), who owns and drives for Knittelfeld-based outfit Grasser Racing, came third in his Lamborghini Gallardo. Previous championship leader Christina Nielsen (21) from Denmark finished fourth in her Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911.