ADAC GT Masters 2012 - round 7 - Nurburgring (again !)

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ADAC GT Masters 2012 - round 7 - Nurburgring (again !)

Post by neil » Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:00 pm

Official ADAC Press release

Four-way title fight:
ADAC GT Masters 'semi-final' at the Nürburgring

Porsche under pressure from Mercedes-Benz, Corvette and BMW ALPINA
Porsche driver Engelhart leads championship by 25 points
Home race for ex-Formula 1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen


The battle for the ADAC GT Masters' title is hotting up. The final sprint for the championship in the League of Super Sports Cars gets underway at the Nürburgring (14th to 16th September). It is the penultimate race weekend of the season, hence, 'semi-finals' in football parlance. A four-way fight for the title is in prospect at the Nürburgring as Mercedes-Benz, Corvette and BMW ALPINA chase Porsche. At the Nürburgring, championship leader Christian Engelhart (25, Kösching / Team Geyer & Weinig EDP - Schütz Motorsport) in the Porsche 911 has the first match point en route to the title. Just 25 points separate Engelhart from his closest rivals, Sebastian Asch (25, Ammerbuch) and Maximilian Götz (26, Uffenheim / kfzteile24 MS RACING team) in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.


Key facts, Nürburgring, Races 13 and 14

Track length:
5.137kilometres (Grand Prix Circuit)
Layout:
7 left-handers, 10 right-handers, racing in a clockwise direction
Last year's winners, Race 1:
René Rast/Christian Mamerow (Mamerow Racing Audi R8)
Last year's winners, Race 2:
Dino Lunardi/Maxime Martin (ALPINA BMW ALPINA B6)




Championship leader Engelhart expects tough weekend

This will be the second time this season that the ADAC GT Masters has been contested at the Nürburgring. After the first series of races around the short sprint track in July, the almost 40 strong supercar field will now utilise the long circuit which is also used for Formula 1 grand prix events. For championship leader, Christian Engelhart, it is vitally important in the Eifel not to lose any points if at all possible on the other drivers in hot pursuit. After the strong showing by the Porsche teams recently at the Red Bull Ring and at the Lausitzring, Engelhart expects that the drivers at the top of the table will become more tightly bunched once again in the Eifel: "The weekend will be very tricky for us. I think that Mercedes-Benz, Corvette and BMW ALPINA will be the main front-runners. However, if it rains, we have a good chance in our Porsche which has plenty of rear-wheel traction."

At least on paper, Engelhart's team-mate Nick Tandy (27, GB) is in with a shout but in reality has no chance of securing the title. Since the British driver had to miss the July Nürburgring races, the reigning Carrera Cup champion is ranked third in the championship table and is giving Engelhart his full backing. "If Christian Engelhart secures the title, Nick Tandy has a very good chance of finishing runner-up," said team boss Christian Schütz, musing on the possibilities of a dream result for his drivers in the championship.


Rivals Asch/Götz hope to be in with a chance in their Mercedes-Benz

Sebastian Asch and Maximilian Götz, the Porsche duo's closest rivals for the title, threw down the gauntlet at the first Nürburgring outing in July, making it clear that victory at the Ring would only ever go to the black Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG; last July, the two drivers, currently placed second in the championship, secured pole position for both races. Maximilian Götz: "We have shown that we are fast around the Nürburgring, and now we will see to it that we finish ahead of our title rivals in both races. Qualifying will be the deciding factor. If we get another good result there, then we have every chance of taking points out of our opponents."

Also hoping for a successful weekend in the Eifel: Diego Alessi (40, Italy) and Daniel Keilwitz (23, Villingen / Callaway Competition), lying in fourth place in the championship table. Keilwitz: "I am confident that we'll achieve a good result in the Eifel. We had a good lead at the top of the standings for a while this season and know from experience how quickly the situation can change. Therefore, we still have a good chance in the title fight."

Dino Lunardi (33, France) and Maxime Martin (26, Belgium / ALPINA) in the BMW ALPINA B6 must use their last chance of securing the championship at the Nürburgring. Last July, the title defender and the Belgian sports car rising star achieved a second place and a win in the Eifel, which gave them practically maximum points. Since then, the ALPINA duo have failed to finish in the points, but a glance at the statistics shows that the bright green coupé from Bavaria has been almost unbeatable on the Grand Prix circuit. Three of the four previous ADAC GT Masters races over the long distance track went to the B6. And there will be no shortage of motivation for the ALPINA driver in the Eifel: BMW is about to reward Martin with a DTM test in the BMW M3 DTM in view of his strong performances this season.


Home race for ex-Formula 1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen

Andreas Wirth (27, Heidelberg / Callaway Competition) can also point to an excellent set of statistics at the Nürburgring: The Corvette driver, who lines up on the grid with ex-Formula 1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen (45, Neuss), is the most successful ADAC GT Masters driver so far at the Nürburgring, having achieved four wins there. The Nürburgring is a home race for Wirth's team-mate Frentzen. Although Frentzen originally comes from the Ruhr area, he now lives in Neuss, which is not too far from the Nürburgring. Corvette driver Frank Schmickler (47 / Callaway Competition) is from Cologne and so is even closer. Also from Cologne, title defender Alexandros Margaritis (27), who co-drives a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG with Lance David Arnold (26 / SCHÖNER WOHNEN Polarweiss Team HEICO), from Duisburg. In July, the Mercedes duo achieved their best result of the season so far at the Nürburgring. Now, Margaritis/Arnold aim to secure their first joint podium.


Three-way fight for the amateurs' title

The final stages of the battle for the amateurs' title are equally as exciting. Porsche driver Swen Dolenc (44, Maulbronn / FACH AUTO TECH) has a 24-point lead at the top of the standings but cannot afford to relax, however, because rival Kristian Poulsen (36, Denmark / Young Driver AMR) aims to reduce the gap in his Aston Martin V12 Vantage at the Nürburgring. Two-time amateur champion Toni Seiler (54, Switzerland / Callaway) in the Corvette has also thrown his hat back into the ring in the title fight. After achieving two wins in the last three races, the Swiss veteran has secured plenty of points, moving up the rankings into third place in the amateur stakes.

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Post by neil » Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:18 am

Here's ALPINA's pre race press release:

ALPINA and the Nürburgring, this combination has proven successful. The BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 has claimed four victories at the „Ring“, the most recent only eight weeks ago. Now in the title-deciding stage of the season, the ADAC GT Masters visit the Nürburgring a second time for the penultimate race weekend of 2012, taking place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of September. With only four races to go, defending champion Dino Lunardi and Maxime Martin are still in contention for championship honours with their BMW ALPINA B6 GT3.
 
This time round the long Grand Prix layout of the track will be used as opposed to the short sprint layout which was used back in July. To stay in contention for the title all the way up to the final round at the end of the month at Hockenheim, ALPINA really has to push hard
Lunardi/Martin are trailing the Porsche 911 of championship leader Engelhart by 47 points, this means two podium finishes are required to keep any championship dreams alive.
 
"I am confident that we will be fast this weekend," says defending champion Dino Lunardi. "The Nürburgring should suit us much better then the previous circuits, but we should not underestimate the very strong competition from Corvette, Porsche and Mercedes. The season this year is a bit crazy and it is extremely difficult to still win the title. But at the Nürburgring, we have the good chance to gain crucial points. Back in July we arrived at the Nürburgring with a 28-point gap and left the circuit with a five point lead. So anything can happen this weekend and we are up to the challenge.“
 
For both Martin and Lunardi it is a first to race the Grand Prix track layout in the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3. “It’s looking good for us at the Nürburgring, but we have to score a massive amount of points this weekend. For me the track layout is new, so I don’t really know what to expect. But considering the good record of ALPINA, our car should work very well there and on the short sprint track, we have been successful earlier this season. But a fast car and two good drivers will not be the only thing this weekend, we also need a great deal of luck.“ Martin starts with big bag of extra motivation since BMW invited the rapid Belgian to test their DTM car, having impressed with a great performance during this season.
 
"At the Nürburgring, we will certainly be more competitive than in the previous two rounds," ALPINA´s Andreas Bovensiepen predicts. "But we have to finish on the podium in both races, to stay in contention for the championship. As our successful record at the Nürburgring proves, we have every chance of a good result there. And one thing is for certain: We will fight until the end".
 
A second BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 is entered at the Nürburgring by the ALPINA customer team LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler for Florian Spengler and Johannes Leidinger.

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Post by neil » Sat Sep 15, 2012 1:15 am

Great results in Qualifying today....


Lunardi qualified in 2nd and Martin qualified in 1st :)

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Post by neil » Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:17 pm

Official race debrief:

 
  Lunardi and Martin win to keep title challenge alive
 
BMW ALPINA drivers reduce championship deficit
Third win of season for Lunardi/Martin
Poulsen celebrates victory in amateurs for Aston Martin

 
With just three races to go, the ADAC GT Masters title chase has opened up again as current championship leader Christian Engelhart (25, Kösching / Team Geyer & Weinig EDV - Schütz Motorsport) suffers a significant points loss to his nearest challengers. The Porsche man's three closest pursuers - driving a BMW ALPINA, a Corvette and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG respectively - shared out the podium places between themselves in Race 1 on Saturday. Dino Lunardi (33, France) and Maxime Martin (26, Belgium / ALPINA) kept their title hopes alive with victory in their BMW ALPINA B6. Finishing in second place were Diego Alessi (40, Italy) and Daniel Keilwitz (23, Villingen / Callaway Competition) in their Corvette ahead of third-placed Sebastian Asch (26, Ammerbuch) and Maximilian Götz (26, Uffenheim / kfzteile24 MS RACING Team) who are currently second in the standings. Engelhart and co-driver Nick Tandy (27, GB) finished seventh in their Porsche 911. After four races without scoring a single championship point, Lunardi has returned to form with a third win of the season: "We're back in contention for the title, but we didn't progress up the table quite as far as we had hoped, because our closest rivals also came away with a decent points haul."
 
 
Keyfacts: Nürburgring, Race 1
 
Circuit length:
5,137 metres
Weather:
13°C, overcast
Pole position:
Diego Alessi (Callaway Competition Corvette), 01:56.288 mins
Winner:
Dino Lunardi/Maxime Martin (ALPINA-BMW ALPINA B6)
Fastest lap:
Ferdinand Stuck (Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage) 01:57.547 (new ADAC GT Masters lap record)

 
 
Ferdinand Stuck leads first stint of race
 
It was not the pair battling for the title who took centre stage in the first half of the race but Ferdinand Stuck (21, Austria / Young Driver AMR) in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. The son of racing legend Hans-Joachim 'Strietzel' Stuck took advantage of a scrap at the start between Alessi and Lunardi. Corvette driver Alessi and BMW ALPINA driver Lunardi misbraked on the approach to the first turn whilst battling for the lead. Stuck saw his chance and took the lead from Lunardi. Stuck, at the wheel of the Aston Martin, gradually drew away from Lunardi. Alessi was the big loser in the start phase, dropping back down the field to eighth place. Stuck handed over the British supercar to his older brother Johannes at the end of the first stint, having secured a lead of 5.4 seconds, but Johannes only managed to hold on to P1 for a single lap. The Stuck brothers were given a stop-and-go penalty as a result of a pit stop that was too short. Johannes Stuck dropped back down the field to sixth after serving his penalty.
 
Maxime Martin inherited the lead in the BMW ALPINA, whilst right behind him followed the Corvette of Keilwitz /Alessi that had moved up into second place due to a good pit stop and Alessi charging up the field during the first half of the race. Keilwitz, who was at the wheel of the Corvette in the second half of the race, was unable to put pressure on Martin before the chequered flag was waved and so came second with a deficit of 0.8 seconds. Martin drove to victory together with Lunardi, repeating their success from the first time that the ADAC GT Masters was staged in the Eifel last July, when the ALPINA duo emerged victorious. "Dino did a great job in the first half of the race, meaning that in the second half, I needed only to keep an eye on tyres and concentrate on staying in the lead," said Martin after his third win of the season.
 
"The pace was blistering at the start, I was a little quicker on the accelerator than the Corvette, but Alessi was able to catch up with me," said Lunardi recounting what happened on the first turn. "We were both late on the brakes and then had to take a wide sweep, but luckily, I was able to come home in second place. I was unable to set off in pursuit of the Aston Martin, so I focused on saving the tyres for Maxime."
 
Asch/Götz completed the podium party in third position. The Mercedes-Benz drivers are still waiting for their first win of the season but closed the gap on championship leader Engelhart to 16 points with their sixth podium finish this season. Dutch duo Simon Knap (23) and Jeroen den Boer (25 / DB Motorsport) in the BMW Z4 took fourth place from the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Maximilian Buhk (19, Dassendorf) and Andreas Simonsen (22, Sweden / HEICO Junior Team). The Stuck brothers missed out on a possible sixth place on the last lap; Johannes skidded into the barriers on the final lap whilst exiting the Mercedes Arena and retired. Consequently, Florian Stoll (31, Rickenbach) and Daniel Dobitsch (28, Austria / kfzteile24 MS RACING Team) were sixth in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMS ahead of Engelhart /Tandy and the Porsche duo of Robert Renauer (27, Jedenhofen) and Nicolas Armindo 30 , France / FROGREEN CO2 neutral).
 
 
Win for Poulsen narrows gap in amateur standings
 
With just three races left, the amateur championship has also opened up. Kristian Poulsen (36, Denmark) partnering Christoffer Nygaard (26, Denmark / Young Driver AMR) finished ninth overall ahead of Christopher Mies (23 / Heiligenhaus) and Edward Sandström (33, Sweden / Prosperia uhc speed) in their Audi R8 to claim the amateur honours in today's race. The Danish driver thereby reduced the deficit on championship leader Swen Dolenc (44, Maulbronn / FACH AUTO TECH) to 17 points. Dolenc was second-best placed amateur driver of the day ahead of fellow Porsche 911 driver René Bourdeaux (37, Munich / Team GT3 Kasko).
 
 
Front row for Race 2 on Sunday promises exciting start
 
The starting line-up for the second race of the weekend tomorrow looks to be an explosive affair. The front row has been booked by the same two cars as on Saturday - the BMW ALPINA of Lunardi/Martin and the Corvette of Alessi/Keilwitz. Andreas Simonsen in the Mercedes-Benz and Johannes Stuck in the Aston Martin will head up the second row.

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Post by neil » Sun Sep 16, 2012 10:52 pm

ALPINA came .....



2nd in the 2nd race at this weekends Round 7 of the 2012 ADACGTMasters Championship

http://www.thealpinaregister.com/racing/2012/adac

The Drivers are back as 4th in the Championship and ALPINA solidified it's 4th position too.

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Post by ALPB1033 » Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:23 am

Great result this weekend! Hope they are still in the competition for the champoionship. Hate to see they lose this year!

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Post by neil » Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:56 pm

Official ADAC Race debrief

ADAC Masters Weekend at Nürburgring
sees titles wrapped up ahead of time

15,000 fans turn out for an ADAC Masters Weekend programme boasting no fewer than twelve races
New leaders in ADAC GT Masters: Keilwitz/Alessi go into final race weekend at Hockenheim (28th - 30th September) topping the table
Three championship titles awarded on penultimate ADAC Masters Weekend: Formel ADAC team championship, ATS Formel-3-Cup Trophy and ADAC PROCAR Division 2 championship



Nürburgring - The Nürburgring played host to the ADAC Masters Weekend over the weekend of 14th - 16th September. The penultimate event on the 2012 calendar pulled in 15,000 fans who enjoyed the spectacle provided by the ADAC GT Masters itself as well as its support series - Formel ADAC, ATS Formel-3-Cup, ADAC PROCAR and MINI TROPHY.


ADAC GT Masters

18 points cover top four in championship table
Callaway Competition take lead in both classifications

The situation at the top has hotted up once more on the penultimate ADAC GT Masters weekend. With Saturday's and Sunday's second place, Dino Lunardi and Maxime Martin have made an impressive return to the title chase in their BMW Alpina B6. Daniel Keilwitz and Diego Alessi achieved a similar feat in their Corvette, winning Sunday's race in the Eifel. So the two Callaway Competition drivers travel to the season finale at Hockenheim as the new leaders in the standings. With two podium finishes, Sebastian Asch and Maximilian Götz are nine points off the lead in third place and still have a chance of securing the championship at Hockenheim in their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The ADAC GT Masters remains exciting to the end; no fewer than three driver duos plus former championship leader Christian Engelhart are in with a chance of clinching the title. Only 18 points separate the top four in the standings. The same applies to the team competition, where Corvette, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW ALPINA are all still in with a shout.

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Post by neil » Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:57 pm

And here's ALPINA's race debrief


Lunardi/Martin and ALPINA takes third victory of the season at the Nürburgring
- Pole Position, one victory and second place at the Nürburgring
- ALPINA-drivers shorten gap to championship leaders

A difficult task perfectly achieved: At the penultimate round of the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring, Dino Lunardi (F) and Maxime Martin (B) secured their championship hopes with a outstanding performance in their BMW ALPINA B6 GT3. One Pole Position, the third victory of the season and a second place was the result of the weekend. The two ALPINA drivers reduced their gap to the championship leaders from 47 to 18 points with only two races to go.

ALPINA and the Nürburgring was already a successful combination in the ADAC GT Masters in the previous seasons. The BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 claimed four victories at the Nürburgring and Lunardi and Martin showed their ambitions for further success with a great result in the Qualifying. Defending champion Dino Lunardi started from the front row into race one, but made contact with the pole setting Corvette of Alessi in the first corner. Ferdinand Stuck, son of former ALPINA driver Hans-Joachim Stuck, took advantage of this and went into the lead with his Aston Martin, with the BMW ALPINA in second place. Lunardi remained in striking distance to the Aston Martin. When the Aston Martin team got penalised with a stop and go penalty after a rule infringement at the mandatory pit stop, Maxime Martin could slip into the lead. Martin remained unchallenged in the second part of the race and secured an impressive fifth victory of the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 at the Nürburgring.

In Sunday’s second race, Martin started from the Pole, but was outpaced by a Corvette driven by Daniel Keilwitz on the way to the first corner. The rapid Belgian chased the Corvette, as did Lunardi in the latter part of the race. But due to a 30kg weight handicap after the victory in race one, Lunardi couldn’t attack the leader and eventually finished second, only 2,1 seconds behind the race-winning Corvette.

In the driver’s championship, the ALPINA drivers improved to fourth place and are now 18 points behind championship leader Alessi / Keilwitz in a Corvette.

"We are back at the front and made the most out of this weekend," said Lunardi. "But as almost all championship contenders scored good this weekend, it’s very tight now and it will be a very exciting and for us also difficult final round.”

„At the start of race two the Corvette went by due to it’s better torque and straight line speed, but I could defend second place“, Martin explained the start of race two. „We are now going to Hockenheim with solid chances for the championship.”

"The weekend at the Nürburgring has been almost perfect for us", ALPINA´s Andreas Bovensiepen said. "We are back in the contention for the championship, but under difficult circumstances as we have to start once again with 50kg success ballast. From the current season and also from the previous seasons, we know that it is difficult to even score points with a overall car weight of 1.550kg including driver and fuel. It will be an exciting final round of the season and we fight with Corvette, Porsche and Mercedes AMG for the championship. Considering our weight at Hockenheim, it would be good if it’s wet. On a wet track, the success weight doesn’t come into play so much so as the acceleration and the braking is not hard as in dry conditions. When it rains we have a realistic chance for the title. Otherwise it will be extremely difficult in dry conditions.

Johannes Leidinger and Florian Spengler in their BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 entered by ALPINA customer team LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler finished both races in the midfield in positions 19 and 21.

The final round of the ADAC GT Masters takes place from 28th to 30th September at Hockenheim. In 2011, ALPINA started at Hockenheim from the Pole in both races and clinched the championship with a victory in race one.

Result race 1:

1. Lunardi/Martin
ALPINA BMW ALPINA B6 GT3

2. Alessi/Keilwitz
Callaway-Corvette

3. Asch/Götz
MS Racing-Mercedes SLS AMG 142

4. Knap/den Boer
DB Motorsport-BMW Z4

5. Buhk/Simonsen
HEICO-Mercedes SLS AMG


Result race 2:

1. Alessi/Keilwitz
Callaway-Corvette

2. Lunardi/Martin
ALPINA BMW ALPINA B6 GT3

3. Asch/Götz
MS Racing-Mercedes SLS AMG 142

4. Stuck/Stuck
Young Driver-Aston Martin Vantage

5. Buhk/Simonsen
HEICO-Mercedes SLS AMG

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