SPORTSCAR

Thrilling racing at the penultimate round of the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring. Constant changes in position, a bad day for the favourites, and tragic retirements – the spectators in the packed grandstands were treated to magnificent motorsport on Sunday. After 44 eventful laps, Marvin Dienst (25/Lampertheim) was first across the finish line in the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to claim his second win in the German GT Championship. “That is my second victory in the ADAC GT Masters, and both have come at the Sachsenring. I know where to overtake here, which helped me,” explained Dienst. His young partner, ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Jan Marschalkowski (19/Inning), was also delighted to get his maiden win as a rookie. Championship leader Raffaele Marciello (27/CH), who alternated with Daniel Juncadella (31/E) at the wheel of the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, came home second after a controlled race. In doing so, the driver from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf extended his lead in the table. Local favourite Maximilian Paul (22/Dresden) and Marco Mapelli (35/I) were third in the #71 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo. The ADAC GT Masters weekend at the Sachsenring was watched by 26,000 spectators – the sixth crowd record in a row at the sixth round of the season.

Dream comeback for Jules Gounon (27/F): After a break for an injury, it was uncertain for a long time whether the 2017 champion would start at the Sachsenring. Only on Wednesday did the Frenchman receive the all-clear from his doctor. From that point on, however, Gounon has been unstoppable on his return to racing. He and his driving partner from Drago Racing Team ZVO, Fabian Schiller (25/Troisdorf), produced a commanding display in Saturday’s race to claim their third win of this season’s German GT Championship at the wheel of the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3. “I am really happy. The Sachsenring is my favourite circuit. It is fantastic to win here three times and to claim the third win of the season for our team.” Fabian Schiller had two reasons to be delighted, as he also won the Pirelli Junior competition. Pole-sitter Raffaele Marciello (27/CH) and Daniel Juncadella (31/E) from Mann-Filter Team Landgraf finished second in the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3. In doing so, Marciello extended his lead at the top of the table. Third place, after an inconspicuous but extremely efficient performance, went to Kim-Luis Schramm (24/Meuspath) and Dennis Marschall (26/Eggenstein) in the #27 Rutronik Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

Second DTM race win in a row: Nick Cassidy has won the Saturday race in DTM at Red Bull Ring powered by REMUS. Having started from pole position, the New Zealander with the Ferrari of the Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse team was able to bring home a commanding lights-to-flag win by virtue of a good strategy and despite success ballast. Just a fortnight ago, the 29-year-old had scored his maiden DTM race win in the Sunday race at Spa-Francorchamps. “A really great day. Winning here at Red Bull Ring with AlphhaTauri and Red Bull is simply fantastic,” a buoyant Cassidy said at the finish. At the 4.318 kilometres long track in Styria, René Rast (GER) finished second with the ABT Audi. As a result, the three-time DTM champion scored further valuable championship points and took over second place in the drivers’ standings with 117 points. In the morning, Rast had already been fastest in qualifying and therefore scored three additional points but had to start the race from fourth place following a grid penalty from Spa-Francorchamps. Third place in the race went to Austro-Italian Mirko Bortolotti with the Lamborghini in the home round of the Grasser Racing Team.