The fight for the overall win in the 44th ADAC Zurich 24h-Rennen is heating up. While it seems to be sure that a Mercedes will win the race it is absolutely impossible to predict which of the four leading Mercedes-AMG GT3 racers will make it to the top step. The Haribo-Team (#88) lost valuable time due to a time penalty for a yellow-flag infringement, with HTP-Motorsport benefiting from the incident. With 112 laps completed, #29 now holds the lead. The two Black Falcon sister cars follow 2:09.026 minutes (#4) and 2:56,146 minutes (#9) behind, with Haribo being fourth. But the rain that begins to fall stronger keeps the hopes of the competitors alive. The Rowe Racing BMW M6 GT3 #23 still holds fifth position and behind it, the fastest Audi R8 LMS #5 follows in sixth. And the Bentley Continental GT3 #38 in seventh increases the brand variety at the front end of the field.
1 – Vanthoor / Mies / Müller / Kaffer (Audi R8 LMS)
10:58hrs Kaffer for Vanthoor.
Vanthoor. A good stint. I slightly pushed in the dry to set a fast lap time. Later, in the rain, it wasn’t that easy. Taking more risks now wouldn’t give us anything.”
12:25hrs Christopher Mies for Pierre Kaffer:
2 – Leonard / Frijns / Sandström / Vervisch (Audi R8 LMS)
10:33hrs Crash at Eschbach, continues.
10:42hrs The Audi R8 LMS is pushed into the garage. The team wants to check the suspension geometry. In addition, the front is repaired.
11:24hrs Frederic Vervisch for Edward Sandström.
4 – Schneider / Engel / Christodoulou / Metzger (Mercedes AMG GT3)
10:49hrs Metzger for Christodoulou.
12:06hrs Scheduled stop. Manuel Metzger continues.
5 – Stippler / Fjordbach / Mortara / Meyr-Melnhof (Audi R8 LMS)
10:34hrs Switches like numerous other teams to intermediates.
11:40hrs Frank Stippler for Edoardo Mortara.
9 – Haupt / Buurman / Engel / Müller (Mercedes AMG GT3)
11:04hrs With 9:08 minutes the currently fastest in the field.
11:51hrs Maro Engel who was replaced by Dirk Müller reports: “My stint was fun. The rain made the racing slightly trick but we still had a lot of grip. I think we were able to again gain some ground.”
11 – Ohlsson / Bollrath / Oeverhaus / Hackländer (Audi R8 LMS)
12:19hrs Crash in the Schwalbenschwanz area, continues.
16 – Busch / Busch / Mamerow / Rast (Audi R8 LMS)
12:25hrs Pit stop: Switch to wets. Christian Mamerow continues.
18 – Farfus / Krohn / Müller / Wittmann (BMW M6 GT3)
11:03hrs Augusto Farfus: “The blown engine yesterday evening hurt badly. We held the lead and were really quick. And we still are that quick. A huge compliment to the entire Schubert squad. The guys put the disappointment away and worked through the night to again get the car ready to race. As I see it, they are the real heroes.”
21 – Weiss / Kainz / Krumbach / Stursberg (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
11:58hrs 52.6-second stop-and-go penalty for undercutting the minimum pit-stop time.
29 – Vietoris / Seefried / Hohenadel / Van der Zande (Mercedes AMG GT3)
11:29hrs Renger van der Zande pits from the lead for tyres and fuel. Continues.
29 – Vietoris / Seefried / Hohenadel / Van der Zande (Mercedes AMG GT3)
12:24hrs The HTP-Mercedes-AMG GT3 regains the lead.
42 – Cate / Dr. Kamelger / Turner / Guelden (Aston Martin Vantage GT8)
12:23hrs Accident in the Kesselchen.
44 – Dumbreck / Henzler / Ragginger / Imperatori (Porsche 991 GT3R)
12:00hrs Pits for tyres and fuel. No driver swap.
12:03hrs Pit stop for tyres and fuel. Driver swap – Ragginger for Henzler.
65 – Kroner / Schuhbauer / Dr. Bez / Neuser (Aston Martin Vantage V12)
10:32hr Dr Ulrich Bez for Heinz-Jürgen Kroner.
12:16hrs Wolfgang Schuhbauer for Dr Ulrich Bez.
75 – Heyer / Asch / Ludwig / Keilwitz (Mercedes AMG GT3)
11:50hrs Luca Ludwig for Daniel Keilwitz. Kellwitz on his stint: “It wasn’t easy. I had a lot of yellow-flag periods in my first stint. After the pit stop the rain began to fall and so, every single lap proved to be a challenge. But we opted for continuing on slicks and doing so was the right decision. We also opted for slick for our current stint as the circuit is nearly completely dry.”
88 – Alzen / Arnold / Götz / Seyffarth (Mercedes AMG GT3)
11:07hrs 1:32-minute time penalty for having ignored yellow flags and a Code 60 zone.
11:08hrs Pit stop for tyres and fuel. The car is shod with slicks. No driver swap, Götz continues.
12:10hrs In for the scheduled pit stop and the time penalty.
12:14hrs Lance David Arnold for Maximilian Götz. Fuel, fresh tyres and Gaffa tape for the front.
101 – Henkola / Yamauchi / Sandritter / Richardson (BMW M6 GT3)
11:52hrs Scheduled pit stop. Henkola continues.
912 – Lietz / Bergmeister / Christensen / Makowiecki (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
10:41hrs Michael Christensen stopped the car. No propulsion and the engine also refuses to start.
10:51hrs Reason for the early retirement: damage in the drive-train area. Michael Christensen: “All of a sudden I had no more power and then, the engine wouldn’t start again. So I only could park the car. Very disappointing as we possibly could have gained ground in the rain.”
999 – Bouveng / Blomqvist / Krognes / Di Martino (BMW M6 GT3)
11:51hrs Pit stop with drivers swap: Bouveng for Di Martino.
