- Danny Soufi and Pavel Lefterov win for the fourth time this season
- Valentino Catalano and Oscar Tunjo beaten for the first time at the Norisring in 2025
- Michael Herich triumphs in the Trophy competition
Nuremberg. Danny Soufi (21/USA) and Pavel Lefterov (27/BUL, both Konrad Motorsport) took victory in race two of the Prototype Cup Germany at the Norisring. Behind the Konrad duo, Valentino Catalano (19/Westheim) and Oscar Tunjo (29/COL, both Badischer Motorsport Club) had to settle for second place, while Maxim Dirickx (21/BEL) and Sven Barth (44/Eberbach, both Aust Motorsport) celebrated from the third step of the podium. Lefterov laid the foundation for victory at the start, when he overtook his rival Tunjo and refused to surrender the lead until he came in for the mandatory pit stop. “It was a good start. I then simply tried to keep Oscar behind me and avoid making any mistakes.” Soufi, who was at the wheel for the second stint, completed the work Lefterov had started. “Pavel did a great job, as it was only really possible to take the lead without taking any major risks at the start. I had a few issues with the brakes in my stint, but all in all it went really well.” A fourth win of the season saw the American/Bulgarian pairing tighten their grip on first place in the Drivers’ Championship in the German LMP3 series.
The race started under overcast skies and with temperatures lower than on the previous two days. Although Lefterov snatched the lead early on in the race, he was never able to shake off Tunjo behind him. Once all the mandatory pit stops had been made, Soufi, who had taken over from Lefterov in the Ligier, was left with a lead of roughly three and a half seconds. However, Catalano, having replaced Tunjo in the Gebhardt Duqueine, gradually closed the gap and ensured it remained tense right down to the chequered flag. In the end, Soufi crossed the finish line 0.305 seconds ahead of Catalano.
There was even more quality LMP3 racing behind the two front-runners. Dirickx determinedly battled his way past Maksymilian Angelard (17/POL, BWT Mücke Motorsport), as he saw the possibility of a third podium in his fledgling Prototype career. The young Belgian then kept his focus, and he and his partner Barth were rewarded with third place. Jacob Erlbacher (24/Böblingen) and Jérémy Siffert (21/SUI, both Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) finished fourth, narrowly missing out on their first podium in the Prototype Cup Germany, while Mattis Pluschkell (20/Elmenhorst, BWT Mücke Motorsport) and Angelard had to settle for fifth place. Despite this, the German/Polish duo remain second in the overall standings, although Barth and Dirickx are closing in rapidly. In the battle for the title in the Trophy competition, Michael Herich (47/Brühl, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) had his nose in front at the Norisring. He and his partner Alexzander Kristiansson (25/SWE, Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsport) finished sixth, ahead of his Trophy rival Thomas Ambiel (45/Eppingen, Rinaldi Racing) who came home seventh.
Oscar Tunjo (second): “Pavel was faster at the start and I did not want to slam the door closed on him. We then stayed in second place until the finish. Despite that, I am proud of the team: with the exception of race two, we ended every session this weekend in first place.”
Valentino Catalano (second): “The car was really good today. I was able to put my foot down and close the gap to Danny, which I had after the pit stop. However, I did not want to take any major risks to possibly take first place. Unlike us, Danny and Pavel are challenging for the title, and I did not want to risk taking them out of the race.”
Sven Barth (third): “I benefitted from the retirement of Mattias Bjerre Jakobsen at the start, and handed the car over to Maxim in fourth place. He then produced a flawless display, so we can now celebrate our third podium in the past four races.”
Maxim Dirickx (third): “I saw at the start of my stint that I had Maksymilian Angelard ahead of me and Jacob Erlbacher behind me. I knew I had to get past Maksymilian quickly, and managed to do so. The gap to Valentino was then too great to make any further progress. However, I am pleased that we have been able to perform pretty consistently at the past two race weekends.”