GT Masters: Everything going for Niederhauser 🎥
TWICE ON THE PODIUM Although Rolf Ineichen, another Swiss, was the winner at the Nürburgring. However, Patric Niederhauser and his partner Kelvin van der Linde extended their lead in the standings with podium finishes in both ADAC GT Masters races. Two cars with Swiss lineups started from row 1 for the second race. Both finished on the podium. [...]
Two cars with Swiss crews started from row 1 for the second race. Both finished on the podium.
After the mixed weekend before at Zandvoort, virtually everything went right for Patric Niederhauser and Kelvin van der Linde in the Eifel. In Saturday's one-hour race on the shortened Nürburgring GP circuit, the driver from Bern put the Audi R8 LMS of HCB-Rutronik-Racing, whose technicians invested a lot of work in the preparation, in third place on the grid. Although the car was hit hard in the scramble and was no longer good to drive, the Swiss as the starting driver and, after him, the South African brought it home in third place.
Since the second-placed guest drivers Stolz/Engel on Mercedes, who took a rowdy approach, do not count for the championship, there were even important points for second place. The other day, however, the fast duo again finished third on the road and this time third in points after even being second until the pit stop.
Title fight with Callaway
Niederhauser/van der Linde extended their lead in the standings to 144 points. Their direct pursuers Pommer/Kirchhöfer on Callaway Corvette had to settle for 12th and 8th place and are now already 40 points behind. With two events left, each with two rounds at Hockenheim (September 14/15) and at the Sachsenring (September 21/22), the chance of a Swiss winning the first title in the international German GT3 championship is now growing. Since Callaway is always strong at its home track of Hockenheim - no team has won there more often - the decision will probably not be made until the finale.
Optimal preparatory work is worth its weight in gold
Rolf Ineichen also learned what a strong partner is worth. After 17th place in the first race, for which the Lucerne native had qualified as the starting driver for P20 among 31 competitors, victory looked in the cards on Sunday. His new team partner this year, Franck Perera, had qualified the GRT Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracán for pole position on a wet track.
After the halfway point, the Frenchman handed over the Lambo in the lead to the fastest German-speaking privateer driver in the GT3 scene. Ineichen solved his task with flying colors and brought the car safely to the finish in first position. In the championship, the duo made the jump from P9 to P5. The day before, Ineichen's former partner and coach Christinan Engelhart had already won together with works driver Mirko Bortolotti in a Grasser Lamborghini.
Points for Feller and Schmidt
Ricardo Feller, who celebrated his first GT victory at Zandvoort with Dries Vanthoor from Belgium, only scored good points in the first race as eighth and second in the Junior classification. Jeffrey Schmidt, whose season had started right away with a podium (3rd) in Oschersleben, again did not get beyond a tenth place with works driver Christopher Haase in the best of the three Audi of BWT Mücke Motorsport.
