Corvette victory and Camaro sensation at the Red Bull Ring

• Oliver Gavin and Daniel Keilwitz notch up first win of season for Corvette
• Stunning P2 for the Camaro of Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Tomas Enge
• Toni Seiler picks up trophy number two for Corvette with a win in the Gentlemen class

With just two weeks to go before Formula 1 is welcomed back at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, the ADAC GT Masters weekend has been widely seen as a dress rehearsal for the return of the highest echelon of motorsport to this spectacular venue in the Austrian Alps. The first of the weekend’s two races was dominated by American sports cars, as Englishman Oliver Gavin (41) and German partner Daniel Keilwitz (24) in a Callaway Competition Corvette converted pole position into a flawless start-finish victory. A record was broken today as the Corvette with the rest of the field in its wake set the highest average speed ever clocked in an ADAC GT Masters race: 165.9 kilometres per hour (103.09mph). The first seven races of the 2014 campaign have now been won by cars sporting no fewer than five different badges on their grilles. Meanwhile, former champion Albert von Thurn und Taxis (30) from Regensburg and ex-Formula 1 driver Tomas Enge (37) from the Czech Republic were attracting possibly more attention than even the race winners themselves. By finishing second in their Reiter Engineering Chevrolet Camaro, von Thurn und Taxis and Enge achieved the first ever Super Sports Car League podium for the powerful US ‘muscle car’. Maximilian Götz (28, Germany) and Maximilian Buhk (21, Germany) in an HTP Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG completed the Top Three. “It doesn’t get much better than this,” said a jubilant Keilwitz. “Now we have to make sure that we get this same result when we start from pole again tomorrow.”

Gavin prevails against von Thurn and Taxis from the off

Gavin exploited pole position fully at the start to take and retain the lead. Von Thurn and Taxis moved up decisively from grid position four into second place behind the Corvette. While Gavin was gradually pulling away with every lap, Götz in the gullwing and Proczyk in the Grasser Racing Lamborghini set their sights on chasing down the Camaro. The leading group maintained their relative positions after the driver changeover. Keilwitz took over the wheel of the Corvette from Gavin in P1 and doubled his lead to eight seconds within the space of a few laps.

Von Thurn und Taxis and Enge fell back down the field behind a number of cars, including the TONINO Team Herberth Porsche 911 of Austrian duo Renauer and Siedler, the PIXUM Team Schubert BMW Z4 of Sandritter and Klingmann, and the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Götz and Buhk. However, Enge promptly fought his way back past Siedler and Klingmann into third place. The Camaro driver then made light work of reclaiming P2 from Buhk when the Mercedes-Benz lost momentum due to a mistake while exiting the pit lane and had to let the black Camaro through. Meanwhile, Gavin and Keilwitz were cruising to the 17th all-time ADAC GT Masters win for a Corvette with a lead of 5.8 seconds on the Camaro.

“Unlike the pursuing group, we came into the pits quite late and had a clear track ahead of us after the driver changeover,” said Keilwitz after his ninth ADAC GT Masters victory. “Meanwhile, our competitors hit traffic, which enabled me to build up a comfortable lead. But in some ways, that made for a more difficult race than when you’re having to fight for position, because you’re more inclined to be careless, and that’s when mistakes start to creep in.”

Gavin: “The Camaro was incredibly quick today – as a Chevrolet works driver, I’m really pleased to see two Chevies out in front at the finish. I had a clean start and soon found my rhythm. Things got quite interesting, though, just before our driver changeover when I closed on a couple of backmarkers who had already swapped drivers. We knew that this circuit suited the Corvette, and I’m pleased that Daniel and I have achieved such a good result for Callaway.”

Albert von Thurn und Taxis – back on the podium for the first time since 2011 – was as pleased with his second place as with a win. “What an incredible result! Everything was totally right. Our Camaro was perfect and the car is just great after all the development work we’ve put into it. I hit the throttle hard right at the start and I had the good fortune to take P2. I eased off a bit before the driver changeover. I was feeling quite on edge, not wanting to make any mistakes, as it’s a long time since I’ve been up at the front in an ADAC GT Masters race.”

The two local favourites, Austrians Proczyk and Tweraser in the Lamborghini, put pressure on the Mercedes-Benz of Götz and Buhk but ultimately had to be content with fourth place – the best finish for a Gallardo in the ADAC GT Masters since 2011.

Sandritter and Klingmann were fifth in the BMW. A P6 for Renauer and Siedler in the Porsche 911 meant that super sports cars from six different manufactures occupied the top six places. Luca Ludwig (25, Germany) and Israel’s Alon Day (22) finished seventh in the BKK MOBIL OIL Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, giving them their best result of the season so far. ADAC GT Masters championship leader Jaap van Lagen (37, Netherlands) and GW IT Racing Schütz Motorsport team-mate Christian Engelhart (27, Germany) finished the race in ninth place in their Porsche 911 behind the RWT Corvette of David Jahn (23, Germany) and Sven Barth (22, Germany). South Africa’s Kelvin van der Linde (17) and René Rast (27, Germany) in a Prosperia C Abt Racing Audi R8 grabbed a point by placing tenth when Rast overtook Spanish ex-Formula 1 driver Jaime Alguersuari (24) in a ROWE RACING Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG on the final lap.

Nail-biting finish in the Gentlemen class

The sequence of five wins on the trot in the Gentlemen category came to an end for Austria’s Herbert Handlos in his TONINO Team Herberth Porsche. On the very last lap in a heart-stopping finale, Switzerland’s Toni Seiler (56) secured a second win of the season in his Callaway Competition Corvette. Fellow Swiss competitor Remo Lips (32) supported by co-driver Lennart Marioneck (25, Germany) in another Callaway Competition Corvette had looked like sure winners until the final lap, but Marioneck ran out of fuel over the last hundred metres. Seiler’s Dutch team-mate Jeroen Bleekemolen (32) sailed past to make this an absolutely perfect day for the Corvette specialists at Callaway Competition. Dominic Jöst (35, Germany) ably assisted by Stefan Wackerbauer (18, Germany) came third in a TONINO Team Herberth Porsche 911. Championship leader Handlos finished fifth after suffering problems with his fuel pump.

Gavin and Keilwitz in with a great chance of the double

In the equivalent fixture last year, Keilwitz won both races at the Red Bull Ring to lay the groundwork for ultimately taking the 2013 title. On Sunday, he has the opportunity to repeat this result. The front row for tomorrow’s race will be the same as Saturday’s race result, with Keilwitz starting just ahead of Enge. Tweraser in the Lamborghini lines up in third ahead of the Corvette driven by Bleekemolen.