Our GT Masters weekend: heaven and hell

Forming a tightly knit team in good and bad times is the foundation of a good marriage as well as cooperation in motorsport. Good and bad moments also happened for the KÜS Team75 Bernhard, with whom we are known to cooperate in the ADAC GT Masters, this weekend. On Saturday, the first race day of this weekend, the Porsche 911 GT3 R with start number 17 made it into the top ten. Two-time Le Mans overall winner Timo Bernhard from Bruchmühlbach-Miesau and Kévin Estre from France finished the race in Spielberg in fourth place. Turns and fall out after five laps for the car with starting number 17, "enemy contact" and drive-through penalty, resulting in only place 29 for the car with start number 18 - the Sunday race for the ADAC GT Masters was a bitter disappointment for the KÜS Team75 Bernhard.

Let's take a look at Saturday, which really set the tone for the GT Masters and was a good day for the Porsche 911 GT3 R of our friends from the KÜS Team75 Bernhard - matching the #SportsCarTogetherDay, the world-famous Porsche event, where 70 years of Porsche takes center stage. In Austria's Spielberg, Bernhard and Estre (29) delivered a spectacular race in optimal weather conditions and a temperature of 26 degrees Celsius. The 911 GT3 R with start number 17 was able to overtake four competitors starting from position eight. After 36 laps, the approximately 367 kW / 500 hp racing car crossed the finish line in fourth place. "Kévin and I were able to overtake two cars at a time, my start was good, our 911 GT3 R was very fast and that's a reward for the work of the whole team," said Bernhard (37).

In the second Porsche 911 GT3 R used by KÜS Team75 Bernhard, local hero Klaus Bachler (26) from Austria and Adrien de Leener Belgium took 15th place. The driver duo could take a total of twelve positions during the one-hour run. "With so many cars on the field, it's not easy to pass, but thanks to the well-balanced balance of our team we were able to attack throughout the race, qualifying on Sunday for a front starting position and then landing even further ahead," said Bachler. The good Klaus was just as good, but unfortunately the Sunday at the 4.318-kilometer Red Bull-Ring turned out to be disappointing for the team around Timo Bernhard, whose winning car from Le Mans we met yesterday at #SportsCarTogetherDay. More about this next week.

Sundays in Spielberg: Rain spoiled the bill

Turns and fall out after five laps for the starting number 17, "enemy contact" and drive-through penalty, resulting in only place 29 for the start number 18 - the Sunday race for the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring was for the KÜS Team75 Bernhard after the good result of the previous day a bitter disappointment. In qualifying, Kévin Estre placed seventeenth in the Porsche 911 GT3 R with starting number 17; the French Porsche factory driver was able to defend this position at the start. After a few minutes, the onset of rain turned the race into a lottery. Kévin came into a duel on the curb, turned and had to give up the race. Long-distance world champion Timo Bernhard was no longer used. Klaus Bachler had started in 15th place with the car with start number 18.

At his home race, the Austrians drove in the turbulent opening phase strong, made several places well and was already in the top ten, but came into a duel with a competitor, which later earned him a drive-through penalty. Due to the increasing rain, an additional stop had to be made, before opening the pit stop window Bachler was ranked 28th. Team-mate Adrien De Leener, the Belgian in the team, celebrating his 29th birthday today, took over and brought the Porsche 911 GT3 R finally finished in 29th place. Team manager Klaus Graf for the weekend: "Overall, we had a good result on Saturday and in terms of performance we were satisfied throughout the weekend and we found a good base."

The results from the Red Bull Ring

On which, according to Graf, the team can build on in the long break until the next race. Runs seven and eight of the ADAC GT Masters will take place from the 3rd to the 5th of August at the Nürburgring. What gives Kevin Estre confidence in this weekend's review: "We probably had a broken tire at the end of the race and the race was over for us, the Nürburgring is more for the Porsche, so hopefully we can go further," said Estre Here too, the competition will try to keep up: In addition to Porsche, Audi, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Honda, Lamborghini and Mercedes-AMG will be starting in the final round of our summary, taking a look at the top spots of the previous weekend's league of super sports cars as the ADAC GT Masters calls itself.

Spielberg, result run 5 of 14

1. Keilwitz/Kirchhöfer (D/D), Corvette C7 GT3
2. Jensen/Scheider (DK/D), BMW M6 GT3
3. Bouveng/Marshal (S/D), BMW M6 GT3
4. Bernhard/Estre ( D/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R
6. Jaminet / Renauer (F / D), Porsche 911 GT3 R
15. Bachler/de Leener (A/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R
25. Luhr/Slooten (D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R

Spielberg, result run 6 of 14

1. Keilwitz/Kirchhöfer (D/D), Corvette C7 GT3
2. Bortolotti/Caldarelli (I/I), Lamborghini Huracán GT3
3. Pommer/Gotz (D/D), Mercedes-AMG GT3
10. Jaminet/Renauer (F/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R
27. Luhr/Slooten (D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R
30. Bachler/de Leener (A/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R
34 Bernhard/Estre (D/F), Porsche 911 GT3 R