BMW duo Baumann & Klingmann win hottest race in ADAC GT Masters history

• Second win of season for BMW pairing in temperatures of 38°C at Lausitzring
• Enthralling photo finish for second place between Mercedes-Benz and BMW
• First Gentlemen victory for BMW driver Jakub Knoll

Klettwitz: Dominik Baumann (22, AUT) and Jens Klingmann (24, GER) of BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert became the first pairing to claim two wins in the 2015 ADAC GT Masters. They steered their BMW Z4 to a second victory in three races and also had the distinction of winning the hottest race in Super Sports Car League history, contending with temperatures of more than 38°C. There was also a scorching battle for second place which ended in a photo finish. Hari Proczyk (39, AUT) and Andreas Simonsen (25, SWE) in an HP Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 crossed the line half a car length – equivalent to 0.039 seconds – ahead of the BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert Z4 driven by Claudia Hürtgen (43, GER) and Uwe Alzen (47, GER). “In the first half of the race, it didn’t look like we were in with a chance of victory, because we were back in fourth place,” said Klingmann after picking up the sixth winner’s trophy of his ADAC GT Masters career. “But we then made an early pit stop, and I had the job of pushing hard for two laps to be in first place after the round of pit stops. And it worked.”

Porsche man Ragginger leads first stint

The race started with a test of patience for fans, drivers and teams. After a collision on Lap 1, the C.Abt Racing Audi R8 driven by Stefan Wackerbauer (19, GER) left an almost three-kilometre trail of oil on the track, i.e. from Turn 1 to the pit lane entrance. In order to have all traces of the lubricant removed, the safety car was deployed on the second lap, but after twelve minutes, the decision was taken to halt the race. The stoppage lasted 53 minutes while the track was cleaned. On the restart of the race, now shortened to 40 minutes, pole-sitter Martin Ragginger (27, AUT) asserted his lead in the GW IT Racing Schütz Motorsport Porsche 911, closely pursued by Daniel Dobitsch (31, AUT) in the kfzteile24 MS Racing Audi R8 and Sebastian Asch (29, GER) in the Team Zakspeed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.

Clever pit strategy gives BMW lead

However, after Ragginger had handed over the car to team-mate Klaus Bachler (23, AUT), the second-stint driver found himself back in third place. Thanks to fast and perfectly timed pit stops, the BMWs of Klingmann and Alzen had succeeded in undercutting the Porsche. While Klingmann drew away from Alzen to comfortably secure his second win of the season with a lead of 4.3 seconds, Alzen had to defend his position hard. In a battle over the final lap, Mercedes driver Simonsen prevented a BMW one-two; in a bold overtaking manoeuvre on the final corner, the Swede passed Alzen to take second place.

“We were the first team to switch drivers today, which was the key to victory for us,” said Baumann after reprising his 2014 race win at the Lausitzring. “A Mercedes-Benz held us up to begin with. Jens came out into clean air after the changeover, allowing him to push on and so take the lead.”

Klingmann: “Our car was extremely good after the pit stop, but we began to lose traction towards the end. I was pleased that I already had a solid lead by that time.”

At the Lausitzring, championship leaders Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig (26, GER) continued their impressive run of results, once again finishing in the Top Four in a seventh consecutive race. Ragginger and Bachler were unable to hang on to third place in the second stint of the race and placed fifth. The two Bentley Continentals of Luca Stolz (19, GER) partnered by Jeroen Bleekemolen (33, NED) and of Clemens Schmid (24, AUT) partnered by Fabian Hamprecht (20, AUT) finished sixth and seventh respectively. Florian Stoll (33, GER) and Marc Basseng (36, GER) in a kfzteile24 MS Racing Audi R8 LMS were ranked eighth, while their team-mates Daniel Dobitsch and Edward Sandström (36, SWE), who had been in second place during the first stint, ran out of luck and had to retire with a gearbox problem.

Andreas Wirth (30, GER) and Daniel Keilwitz (25, GER) in a Callaway Competition Corvette managed to claw their way up into ninth place after Wirth had been put into a spin on the second lap by the C.Abt Racing Audi driven by Jordan Lee Pepper (18, ZA) and had been temporarily consigned to the rear of the field. Rahel Frey (29, CH) and Philip Geipel (28, GER) in the YACO Racing Audi R8 took the last of the points-scoring places.

Win for BMW also in the Gentlemen class

BMW not only wrapped up the overall victory in Race 1 at the Lausitzring but also secured the class win in the Gentlemen stakes. Jakub Knoll (24, CZ) achieved his maiden win after Senkyr Motorsport co-driver Lennart Marioneck (26, GER) overtook the RWT Racing Team Corvette of Remo Lips (32, CH) and Sven Barth (34, GE) on the final lap. The Corvette had been in second place in the Gentlemen class up until that point. Andreas Weishaupt (42, GER) in a C.Abt Racing Audi R8 finished third after being handed a drive-through penalty for an infringement of the rules during the pit stop.

Leaders start from pole position on Sunday

After securing fourth place on Saturday, championship leaders Asch and Ludwig have already been crowned ‘half-time champions’ ahead of the eighth race of the year and the end of the first half of the season. The Mercedes-Benz pair will start from pole position on Sunday and aim to finish the first half of the campaign with their second win of 2015. Nicki Thiim (26, DK) in a C.Abt Racing Audi R8 will start alongside Ludwig on the front row, while Corvette driver Keilwitz and Bachler in the Porsche will be lurking behind, waiting to seize their chance. SPORT1 will broadcast Sunday’s race at the Lausitzring live and in full from 11:30 CEST.

Result: Race 1:

1. Dominik Baumann / Jens Klingmann (BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), 35 laps
2. Hari Proczyk / Andreas Simonsen (HP Racing, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), +4.301 sec
3. Claudia Hürtgen / Uwe Alzen (BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), +4.340 sec
4. Sebastian Asch / Luca Ludwig (Team Zakspeed, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), +6.889 sec
5. Martin Ragginger / Klaus Bachler (GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), +7.898 sec
6. Luca Stolz / Jeroen Bleekemolen (Bentley Team HTP, Bentley Continental GT3) +10.656 sec