Stunning victory for Knap and den Boer at rain-soaked Slovakia Ring

• First win of season for Dutch duo in BMW Z4
• P6 enough to take Robert Renauer to top of drivers’ championship
• Bourdeaux extends lead in Gentlemen standings with another victory

Simon Knap (24) and Jeroen den Boer (26) driving a DB Motorsport BMW Z4 have won the first ever ADAC GT Masters race staged at the Slovakia Ring. The two Dutchmen sailed home on a sodden track 9.274 seconds ahead of Christer Jöns (26) and Markus Winkelhock (33) in a Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8. Claudia Hürtgen (42) and Dominik Baumann (20) in their PIXUM Team Schubert BMW Z4 took third place in a photo finish. “After taking over from Simon (Knap) for the second stint, I was immediately able to drive two seconds faster than my pursuers,” said den Boer after clinching the second ever ADAC GT Masters win for the Netherlands-based team. “Towards the end, I took a more cautious approach and eased off on the throttle.”

Knap snatches lead from Kechele in first third of the race

After heavy downpours during the morning, the first race of the ADAC GT Masters in Slovakia was led off by the safety car which did not come in until Lap 3. Driving the Lambda Performance Ford GT, pole-setter Frank Kechele (27) held on to the lead on the wet track, but immediately came under pressure from Knap. After sitting behind the Ford GT for seven laps, the Dutchman overtook Kechele on the tenth lap to lead the field. Knap extended his advantage over Kechele to five seconds by the halfway stage and the driver changeover. Following the mandatory pit stop, den Boer drove flawlessly to lead by 15.2 seconds at one point in the race, before easing off and cruising to his first victory of the season.

“After the safety car came in, I put Kechele under pressure,” said Knap. “I was able to gather more momentum on the wide start-finish straight and went past the Ford.”

“The car was absolutely perfect today in the rain,” said a delighted den Boer after the victory. “The BMW hasn’t been this good in wet conditions all season. Towards the end, though, it was a little more tricky with the track drying out a bit. However, my lead was big enough.”

There was a fierce battle for the two remaining podium places, as Winkelhock came out on top in an exciting scrap with Maximilian Buhk (20) in a Polarweiss Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG to claim second place. Going down to a photo finish, Buhk and team-mate Maximilian Götz (27) then had to surrender even their third place to the BMW of Baumann and Hürtgen. Baumann found a better line coming out of the final corner to finish a mere 0.026 seconds ahead of the Mercedes-Benz. Kechele and team-mate Dominik Schwager’s (36) fight for a podium spot ended prematurely: after receiving a time penalty for infringing pit stop regulations, the Ford team finished in P14.

Porsche man Renauer new leader in drivers’ championship

Aside from Knap and den Boer, there was another winner at the Slovakia Ring: partnering Martin Ragginger (25, Austria) in a Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911, Robert Renauer (28) came home in P6 behind the Audi R8 of Prosperia C Abt Racing’s Christopher Mies (24) and René Rast (26) to move up to top spot in the overall standings with three races to go. With Renauer leading the way, drivers from Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport now sit atop the driver’s championship and the Gentlemen classification. Previous championship leaders Diego Alessi (41, Italy) and Daniel Keilwitz (24) of Callaway Competition had to start their Corvette from last place on the grid after Alessi made a mistake in qualifying; they could advance no further than P15 and collected no points.

Bourdeaux extends lead in Gentlemen standings

Current leader in the Gentlemen championship René Bourdeaux (38) secured a fifth win of the season in his Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911, thereby consolidating his points advantage over fellow Porsche driver Christina Nielsen (21, DK, Farnbacher Racing) who finished third. P2 went to Corvette driver Remo Lips (31, CH, Callaway Competition). Lips led at the start of the race but fell behind Bourdeaux and co-driver Alfred Renauer (28) in the second stint after taking too long to complete the mandatory pit stop.

Audi duo to start from pole position in 100th ADAC GT Masters race

After finishing second on Saturday, Jöns and Winkelhock are even better placed to notch up their first win of the season in Race 2 on Sunday (shown live on kabel eins starting at 12 noon CEST). The Audi duo will be starting the 100th ADAC GT Masters race from pole position, followed by two more Prosperia C Abt Audis driven by Rahel Frey (27) and Christopher Haase (25) and by Christopher Mies and René Rast. Dominik Baumann and Claudia Hürtgen in the PIXUM Schubert BMW start from fourth.

Slovakia Ring: Result of Race 1 (13/16 in season)

1. Simon Knap / Jeroen den Boer (DB Motorsport, BMW Z4 GT3), 25 laps
2. Christer Jöns / Markus Winkelhock (Prosperia C Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), +9.274 sec
3. Claudia Hürtgen / Dominik Baumann (PIXUM Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), +14.552 sec
4. Maximilian Götz / Maximilian Buhk (Polarweiss Racing, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), +14.578 sec
5. Christopher Mies / René Rast (Prosperia C Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), +23.412 sec
6. Robert Renauer / Martin Ragginger (Tonino powered by Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), +28.523 sec