Hugo Sasse (18, DEU) and Mike David Ortmann (22, DEU, both Prosport Racing) are dominating the ADAC GT4 Germany race weekend at the Sachsenring.
After triumphing in Saturday’s race, the duo in the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 also won race two on Sunday and thus extended their lead of the standings to 20 points before the finale. Their brand colleagues Ben Dörr (17, DEU) and Romain Leroux (19, FRA, both Dörr Motorsport) as well as Indy Dontje (29, NLD) and Phil Dörr (21, DEU, both Dörr Motorsport) completed the podium. These three pairings are also in the top three places in the championship standings. That promises high tension for the season finale in four weeks at the Hockenheimring.
“Two victories, pole position yesterday and the lead in the standings. The weekend really couldn’t have gone any better. I just can’t find the words. I’m overjoyed,” beamed Ortmann with the winner’s trophy in his hands.
Indy Dontje started the race from pole position. The Dutchman also won the start and took the lead. Behind them, Hugo Sasse, who had started from second place, had to give up a position to Finn Zulauf (18/GER, AVIA W&S Motorsport) in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.
The trio pulled away from the field a bit in the early stages, the order only changed when third-placed Sasse came into the pits as the first of the top trio to change drivers. The early pit stop strategy paid off. Ortmann was able to take the lead when Phil Dörr, who took over from Dontje, and Zulauf’s teammate Nicolaj Møller Madsen (29, DNK) drove out of the pit lane. However, due to an ‘unsafe release’ when driving off after the driver change, Møller Madsen had to complete a penalty lap shortly afterwards.
Unimpressed by this, Ortmann continued to extend his lead at the top. Behind second-placed Phil Dörr, meanwhile, his younger brother Ben Dörr was getting bigger and bigger in the rear-view mirror. It came to a sibling duel, which Ben won with a maneuver worth seeing about ten minutes before the end. At the end of the race, the leading Ortmann took it a little easier and finally drove 2.1 seconds ahead to victory, which also meant success in the junior classification for team colleague Sasse.
Nico Hantke (18, DEU) and Simon Connor Primm (17, DEU, both Dörr Motorsport) finished the race in fourth place and thus made Aston Martin’s quadruple triumph at the Sachsenring perfect. Fifth place went to Pavel Lefterov (24, DEU) and Stefan Bostandjiev (18, DEU, both Overdrive Racing) in the Porsche ahead of the Mercedes-AMG GT4 duo Jan Philipp Springob (21, DEU) and Robin Falkenbach (20, DEU, both). Drago Racing Team ZVO) as well as Max Kronberg (35/Berlin) and Hendrik Still (35/Kempenich, both W&S Motorsport) in another Porsche.
Nicolaj Møller Madsen finished eighth together with Finn Zulauf. Tom Wood (20/GBR) and Euan McKay (27/GBR, both Racing One) as well as Michael Schrey (39/Wallenhorst) and Gabriele Piana (36/ITA, both Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport) completed the top ten. Victory in the Trophy classification went to Tom Kieffer (47, LUX) and Christian Kosch (45, LUX, both Allied Racing). The Porsche duo was able to confirm their successful title defense in the Trophy classification of the ADAC GT4 Germany early on.
The votes at a glance:
Mike David Ortmann – Winner for Prosport Racing: “Today’s race was not without its problems, as we had extra weight in the car after yesterday’s win. That made it difficult towards the end with the tyres. The key to victory was definitely the early pit stop. I then gave full attack in my outlap. That paid off. My thanks also go to the team that prepared our car well into the night. We have to keep a cool head in Hockenheim. Let’s see what comes of it. But the title has been our goal since the start of the season .”
Hugo Sasse – Winner for Prosport Racing: “We’re super happy about the one-two at the Sachsenring. Extending our lead in the overall standings is of course very important in view of last weekend at Hockenheim. It was very tight at the start today. I lost a place on the inside. I But I quickly noticed that the pace in our car was good again. At the end of my stint I then concentrated on protecting the tires for Mike.”
Romain Leroux – second place for Dörr Motorsport: “I had a tough stint. I lost a place right at the start. After that I was stuck behind two Porsches that I just couldn’t overtake on the straight. So we came to the pit stop quite early. It paid off because Ben then ahead of the two Porsches. The car felt really good again today. It’s a shame that we lost a few points against Prosport in the title fight.”
Ben Dörr – second place for Dörr Motorsport: “Obviously we’re happy with second place. After overtaking some of my rivals, I also got to my brother Phil. I was just faster today and was able to pass him. I’m fighting for the title just like him. In the overall standings Everything is still open, as 50 points will be awarded in Hockenheim. We’re trying to fight for the championship there. That was the goal from the start.”
Christian Kosch – Champion of the Trophy ranking: “We are overjoyed to have defended the Trophy title. Now we can enjoy the last race weekend at Hockenheim. It’s a bit of a shame that our direct opponents dropped out today. Because we would have liked to have played it on the track. But you take it as it comes. We really like the ADAC GT4 Germany.”