Maiden win for Xavier Lloveras and Gabriela Jílková

• Elia Sperandio and Alex Cascatau also join them on the podium for the first time.
• Lloveras is fastest Junior, Matthias Lüthen wins the Trophy.
• Gary Hauser and Markus Pommer lead at the halfway point of the Prototype Cup Germany.

Zandvoort. Xavier Lloveras (23/ESP) and Gabriela Jílková (28/CZE, both van ommen racing by DataLab) are the winners of race six of this season’s Prototype Cup Germany. In sunny weather in the Dutch town of Zandvoort, they took the chequered flag ahead of Valentino Catalano (17/Westheim) and Robin Rogalski (22/POL, both DKR Engineering). Third place went to Elia Sperandio (17/CHE) and debutant Alex Cascatau (30/ROU, BHK Motorsport). After six of this season’s 12 races, Gary Hauser (31/LUX) and Markus Pommer (32/Untereisesheim, both Racing Experience) lead the Drivers’ Championship in the LMP3 series, which is organised by the ADAC and Creventic.

Xavier Lloveras took full advantage of his pole position at the start, maintaining his lead before immediately pulling away from the rest of the field. Julien Apothéloz (22/CHE, van ommen racing by DataLab) was initially third behind Valentino Catalano, but lost that position when he ploughed into the gravel bed next to the track. And there was bad news for his team-mate Lloveras shortly after, when he was handed a five-second penalty for a false start. However, even a quick trip into the gravel bed shortly after did not cost him the lead, although it did see his advantage reduced somewhat.

By the time all the teams had completed their mandatory pit stops, Lloveras’ team-mate Gabriela Jílková was leading the way at the front of the field. The Czech driver was being pursued by Robin Rogalski, who had taken over at the wheel of Catalano’s Duqueine. However, the Pole was unable to match the pace of the woman in front, instead having to watch as the van ommen driver’s advantage continued to grow steadily. “I knew that they were going to add an extra five seconds to the end result, because of the false start, so it was clear to me that I had to give it everything. We had a chance of winning and I wanted to do everything I could to make it happen,” said Jílková. In the end, she transformed a lead of 5.2 seconds into an advantage of over 16 seconds, meaning she and Lloveras could no longer be denied their first victory in the Prototype Cup Germany, despite the five-second penalty. Behind Catalano and Rogalski, third-placed Elia Sperandio and Alex Cascatau were left smiling at least as much as the winners, as the Swiss/Romanian duo also climbed onto the podium for the first time in the Prototype Cup Germany. And it was also a first appearance at the podium ceremony for their team BHK Motorsport, which only joined the German LMP3 series this year. Rounding out the top five were Gary Hauser and Markus Pommer in fourth, and Sebastian von Gartzen (30/Butzbach) and Maximilian Hackländer (33/Rüthen, both Konrad Motorsport) in fifth place.

The trip to the North Sea coast proved to be less successful for Oscar Tunjo (27/COL, van ommen racing by DataLab) and Apothéloz, who arrived in the Netherlands as championship leaders. A DNF in Saturday’s race was followed by another failure to finish in the Sunday race: this time, a collision with Laurents Hörr (25/Gerlingen, Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport) resulted in them leaving empty-handed. Tunjo and Apothéloz drop to third place in the Drivers’ Championship, behind leaders Hauser and Pommer, and second-placed Catalano and Rogalski. The latter are currently the leading Juniors, while Mark van der Snel (52/NLD, More Motorsport by Reiter) tops the standings in the Trophy competition. In the Team championship, van omen racing by DataLab has its nose in front at the halfway point of the season.

Valentino Catalano – Second place for DKR Engineering
“It was a good race for us, I am happy. I was able to hold onto second place at the start and then wanted to put my foot down and open as big a gap as possible to the third-placed car. Robin then brought the car home safely in second place.”

Robin Rogalski – Second place for DKR Engineering
“My race was relatively uneventful. I spent most of the time on my own. I could not keep up with Gabriela in front of me, she was simply too fast. I am really impressed by her performance. However, second place was also important for us, as we scored a lot of valuable points.”

Elia Sperandio – Third place for BHK Motorsport
“I am still completely lost for words, but am delighted with our first podium in the Prototype Cup Germany. I gained a position at the start and, when Julien Apothéloz briefly ended up in the gravel, I climbed into third. Alex then did a super job in his stint, keeping Markus Pommer at bay for more than 20 minutes.”

Alex Cascatau – Third place for BHK Motorsport
“That race was far from boring. I had Markus Pommer behind me almost the entire time, and he really is not slow. I tried to give it my all and took plenty of risks. I was determined to hang onto third place, and I did it.”