Estre and van Lagen dominate rain-affected race at Zandvoort

• Porsche duo of Kevin Estre and Jaap van Lagen win in soaking conditions at Zandvoort
• Two Prosperia C Abt Racing Audis complete podium party
• Herbert Handlos celebrates second successive victory in Gentlemen classification

Frenchman Kévin Estre (25) and local favourite Jaap van Lagen (37) mastered atrocious conditions in their GW IT Racing Team // Schütz Motorsport Porsche to claim victory in the first of two ADAC GT Masters races this weekend at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. The Porsche duo prevailed in an unrelenting downpour on this challenging circuit set amid the dunes of the North Sea coast, crossing the finish line 9.2 seconds ahead of a Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8 driven by Christer Jöns (26) and Markus Winkelhock (33). South Africa’s Kelvin van der Linde (17) and René Rast (27) from Frankfurt in a second Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8 took the third podium spot. “Winning my home race is a fantastic feeling,” said a jubilant van Lagen. “I’ve spent the last ten years working at this track, and I know absolutely everyone. So to win my first ADAC GT Masters race here is really rather special.”

Estre puts on terrific show in first stint

Estre laid the groundwork for ultimate victory with a cracking start. Coming out of the first corner, the Frenchman wrested the lead from the TONINO Team Herberth Porsche of pole-sitter Robert Renauer (29) whose race then deteriorated further when he aquaplaned off track at Turn 3. Estre then went on to open up a huge gap to the second-placed kfzteile24 APR Motorsport Audi R8 driven by Florian Stoll (32) – the Porsche Carrera Cup champion was lapping up to three seconds faster than his immediate pursuer. When Stoll himself was overtaken by Prosperia’s Christer Jöns, the gap to the race leader increased to 18 seconds. At the mandatory pit stop, Estre bequeathed a 16.8-second lead to team-mate Jaap van Lagen. The Dutchman made maximum use of his familiarity with the track to steer the Porsche safely home in first position as the rain became even more intense.

“I got off to a fabulous start and managed to get past Robert Renauer who conducted himself very fairly,” said Estre after receiving his winner’s trophy. “I then saw him spin off track in my mirror, and from that moment, I just kept pushing. The Porsche was really good, and the main thing was that I had clear visibility. I got into a great rhythm, so I then took fewer risks and eased up a bit on the accelerator.”

“Kévin drove an incredibly strong first stint and at times was up to 18 seconds ahead of the rest of the field,” said van Lagen, full of admiration. “Normally, that wouldn’t be possible at all, but the rain helped us a lot. I shared a lot of insider knowledge about Zandvoort with Kévin before the race, and that will certainly also have helped.”

Hürtgen and Baumann charge up field in BMW to fourth place

Claudia Hürtgen (42) and Austria’s Dominik Baumann (21) impressed with a strong comeback in their PIXUM Team Schubert BMW Z4, clawing their way up the field from P18 to the leading group during the rain-affected 60-minute race to finish in fourth place behind the two Audi R8s of Jöns/Winkelhock and van der Linde/Rast. Fabian Hamprecht (18) and Denmark’s Nicki Thiim (25) in fifth place completed a strong team performance for the outfit managed by former ADAC GT Masters champion Christian Abt, as they brought the third Prosperia Audi R8 home in the Top Five.

The kfzteile24 APR Motorsport pairing of Florian Stoll and Daniel Dobitsch finished the race in sixth place ahead of the PIXUM Team Schubert BMW Z4 driven by Max Sandritter (25) and Jens Klingmann (23) who started from the pit lane but still finished a creditable seventh. Callaway Competition’s Andreas Wirth (29) and reigning ADAC GT Masters champion Daniel Keilwitz (24) in the quickest of the Corvettes edged up into eighth place ahead of Maximilian Buhk (21) and Maximilian Götz (28) in an HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and the pairing of Sebastian Asch (27) and Philipp Frommenwiler (24) in a Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911 in ninth and tenth place respectively.

Exciting contest in Gentlemen class goes to the wire

The Gentlemen stakes were gripping right up to the final turn. Florian Scholze (41) and Dominic Jöst (35) in a TONINO Team Herberth Porsche 911 led in their class from the start until the penultimate lap. But then on the final lap, Alfred Renauer (29) attacked the Porsche 911 of fellow TONINO Team Herberth driver Jöst. Renauer overtook with just three turns remaining to secure a second successive win in the class for Austrian team-mate Herbert Handlos (31). Greek driver Antonios Wossos (48) and Dutchman Wolf Nathan (45) took third place for their GW IT Racing Team // Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911 from Callaway Competition Corvette duo Toni Seiler (56, Switzerland) and Jeroen Bleekemolen (32, Netherlands).

Rast puts Audi in pole position for Race 2 on Sunday

In the second race of the weekend on Sunday (live on kabel eins, beginning at 11:45 am), Kelvin van der Linde and René Rast have a good chance of securing their fourth podium finish in the fourth race of the season. Rast took pole position from team-mate Nicki Thiim in qualifying. Hürtgen and Baumann in a BMW and Saturday’s winners Estre and van Lagen in a Porsche will start the race from the second row.