23,500 fans saw spectacular and exciting motorsport, experienced action-packed frame series and ensured another attendance record in the German GT Championship at the Nürburgring.
The Drago Racing Team ZVO with Jules Gounon (27/F) and Fabian Schiller (24/Troisdorf) won a thrilling eighth round of the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring on Sunday. Final driver Fabian Schiller crossed the finish line first after 42 laps in the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, ensuring Mercedes-AMG's second victory of this ADAC GT Masters race weekend. "It was a great race. Our car ran fantastically and we had good pace. On Saturday we were third, now the victory - I'm totally happy," said the 24-year-old.
In the first half of the race, it looked like a copy of Saturday. Pole-setter Maro Engel (36/Monte Carlo) was in the lead in the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf, just like Raffaele Marciello (27/I) the day before. However, Jules Gounon kept close to his brand colleague, with the second Mercedes-AMG from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf with Frank Bird (22/GB) at the wheel following in third place. Even after the mandatory pit stop, this order remained for the time being. Then the leading Raffaele Marciello was hit. The Mercedes-AMG works driver was penalized with a penalty for blocking Schiller in the pit lane and had to let Fabian Schiller, who had taken over the wheel from Jules Gounon, pass. The latter controlled the race at the front and, after a flawless performance, drove home the second win of the season for his team safely ahead of Marciello with a lead of 4.6 seconds.
Joel Sturm (20/Brühl) from Allied-Racing again crowned a tactical masterstroke with third place in the #22 Porsche 911 GT3 R. His driver colleague Sven Müller (30/Bingen) had already fought his way up from twelfth to fifth place on the first lap after a lightning start. An early pit stop and the penalty of the Mercedes-AMG in front secured the final podium spot for the Porsche duo.
One man's luck was another man's misfortune. Third-placed Elias Seppänen (18/FIN), who had swapped the cockpit of the #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Frank Bird, also received a penalty for a short pit stop and ultimately had to settle for fourth place. In contrast, things went very well for the combination of Maximilian Götz (36/Uffenheim) and Ezequiel Perez Companc (27/RA) in the #90 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. The duo from Madpanda Motorsport made up nine places to finish fifth - the best result so far for the team from Spain in the ADAC GT Masters. Best Lamborghini drivers were Konsta Lappalainen (20/FIN) and Mick Wishofer (22/A) from Emil Frey Racing in sixth place. Behind them, Kim-Luis Schramm (24/Meuspath) and Dennis Marschall (25/Eggenstein) from Rutronik Racing in the fastest Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II finished seventh. Great fighting spirit was shown by Franck Perera (38/F) and Arthur Rougier (22/F) from Emil Frey Racing, who made up ten places in their #19 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo and finished Sunday's race in eighth place. The pairing of Jesse Krohn (31/FIN) and Nicky Catsburg (34/NL) from Schubert Motorsport also showed bite, fighting their way up from penultimate place to ninth in the #20 BMW M4 GT3. The top ten was completed by Maximilian Paul (22/Dresden) and Marco Mapelli (35/I) in the #71 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo from Paul Motorsport.