The ninth race of the Prototype Cup Germany season, which was held at the Nürburgring, was a clear victory for Ralf (49/Salzburg) and David Schumacher (22/Salzburg, both US Racing). Six-time Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher took the lead at the start and steadily extended his lead on the track, which was still wet in places. “My father has always been strong in the rain,” said David. Ralf, who was already almost five seconds ahead of second place after two laps, also praised his team for this performance. “The car was great and the tires were quickly in the working window, so it wasn't that difficult to pull away from the front.” David completed the job with an equally good second stint and drove the US Racing Ligier to the finish line with a lead of almost 17 seconds over Keanu Al Azhari (16/UAE, Mühlner Motorsport). Julien Apothéloz (23/CHE) and Riccardo Leone Cirelli (16/ITA, both BWT Mücke Motorsport) took third place.
Right from the first meter, Ralf Schumacher showed that he is highly motivated on his motorsport comeback after a twelve-year break. He took the lead at the start and pulled away from the field seemingly effortlessly. He saw a potential risk more at the pit stop. “A few mistakes can happen there, which can also hurt. But we also managed the pit stop very well.” For part two of the race, David Schumacher drove the LMP3 car with starting number 27. “The track was already drier for me than it was for my father, so it wasn't a problem. My father was able to give me a good lead, which I had to bring to the finish.”
Second place remained for Al Azhari, for which the 16-year-old had to work hard. He was in fifth place after one lap, but then benefited from a penalty against Danny Soufi (21/USA, Konrad Motorsport). The American was identified by race control as the culprit in an accident with Antti Rammo (41/EST, MRS GT-Racing) and was handed a drive-through penalty. Valentino Catalano (18/Westheim, Gebhardt Motorsport) and Apothéloz overtook Al Azhari shortly afterwards to secure second position. While Al Azhari had a lot of work to do, especially in the first half of the race, Cirelli had to give his all in the second half. He got the Mücke-Duqueine from Apothéloz and found himself under constant pressure from Markus Pommer (33/Untereisesheim, Gebhardt Motorsport). But the 16-year-old Italian made no mistakes, so that the reigning champion Pommer could not find a way past and, together with team partner Catalano, ultimately had to settle for fourth place.
Klaus Abbelen (63, Barweiler) and Felipe Laser (36, Leipzig, both Frikadelli Racing Team) finished fifth. Laser impressed with a great chase to catch up and thus helped to ensure that Abbelen was named best Trophy driver. Soufi and Torsten Kratz (53/Mönchengladbach, Konrad Motorsport) crossed the finish line in sixth place ahead of Stefan Aust (52/Münster, Rinaldi Racing), Maxim Dirickx (20/BEL) / Jacob Erlbacher (23/Böblingen, both Gebhardt Motorsport) and Luca Link (20/Günzberg) / Suellio Almeida (30/BRA, both DataLab Sports with Rinaldi). Soufi and Kratz thus remain leaders of the Prototype Cup Germany standings, with an 18-point lead over Apothéloz and Cirelli. In the Junior classification, Soufi now has a 118-point advantage over Catalano; this means that the Konrad Motorsport protégé can no longer be denied the title of best Junior. In the Trophy classification, leader Rammo was able to maintain a narrow lead over Kratz despite his retirement.
Keanu Al Azhari (second): “My start was not good because the track was still very wet in places. I didn't find the best line, but I didn't want to take too many risks either. So I lost a few places. But I stayed calm because I knew that the race was still long and my car was really fast.”
Julien Apothéloz (third): “The positive thing is that we were able to score important points and, above all, finish ahead of our main rivals for the title. On the other hand, I wasn't entirely satisfied with my own performance, I was simply too slow.”
Riccardo Leone Cirelli (third): “I'm delighted with our third place, which wasn't easy to achieve. I had Markus Pommer in my rear-view mirror the whole time and had to make sure that he didn't overtake me - which fortunately I managed to do. This weekend is my first time at the Nürburgring and I think I've improved over the days. I also think it's cool to be on the podium together with a well-known racing driver like Ralf Schumacher.”
Click here for the results list of the Prototype Cup Germany.