Marylin Niederhauser and her new co-driver Mads Siljehaug have won the first GT4 Central European Cup race at the Nürburgring. The K Racing – Reiter KTM X-BOW GT4 crossed the finish line with a 0,4 second margin from the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Oscar Tunjo and Gosia Rdest. In Am Cup however, it was a dominant victory for the Scuderia Villorba Corse Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 of Giuseppe Fascicolo and Romy Dall`Antonia.
The race did not begin too promising for Mads Siljehaug. His K Racing – Reiter KTM dropped from second to fifth at the start. However, it did not take long for the Finn to snatch the lead away from pole setter Oscar Tunjo in the Phoenix Audi. Siljehaug managed to pull a modest gap until the mandatory pit stops were carried out.
After the driver change, Marylin Niederhauser was left with a five-second gap, which she had to defend from Gosia Rdest in the Phoenix Audi. In the closing stages of the hot 60-minute encounter, Rdest suddenly reached striking distance. Championship leader Niederhauser kept cool and secured her third victory of the season, helping Mads Siljehaug to score his maiden win in his maiden GT4 Central European Cup competition.
Phoenix Racing celebrates its guest appearance in front of home crowds with two podium results. Third place went to John-Louis Jasper and Helmut Rödig behind Tunjo and Rdest.
With fourth position overall, Giuseppe Fascicolo and Romy Dall`Antonia took the Am Cup glory with the Scuderia Villorba Corse Maserati. The Italian driver pairing crossed the line almost half a minute ahead of the second Maserati, entered by the eSky WP Racing Team and Maciej Marcinkiewicz. Despite losing time in a trip into the gravel bed of turn one, third place went to Ivan Vlachkov in the Sofia Car Motorsport SIN R1 GT4.
Championship runner-ups Ilmari Korpivaara and Benjamin Mazatis ran out of luck in their Hollinger – Reiter KTM today. Finn Korpivaara had to pit for repairs after a collision. Co-driver Mazatis still saw the checkered flag in twelfth place.
The second race will be held at 12:50 tomorrow. Before that, teams will have some extra track time in a 15-minute warm up session, held at 8:40. Live streaming and live timing are available in the website’s live section.
Driver quotes:
Mads Siljehaug, K-Racing Reiter #26: « I couldn’t see the lights at the start. The cars were a bit too close together maybe. I was only fifth when I went into the first corner, but I could go back into the lead. Normally, I drive together with Marylin’s boyfriend. It’s nice to win a race with her. »
Marylin Niederhauser, K-Racing Reiter #26: « I knew I had a good gap and only needed to stay in front. But I also knew that Gosia is fast. The tyres were already worn, I could really feel that. It’s a good result for my championship. But I’m still sorry for my teammates and hope they’ll be with us again next time. »
Romy Dall`Antonia, Scuderia Villorba Corse #77: « We had a good strategy and a good setup. We kept improving the car step by step since free practice one. I’d love to win the watch for the quickest time in qualifying, so we need to find a strategy for that as well. »
Romy Dall`Antonia, Scuderia Villorba Corse #77: « It was hot in the car. But you don’t feel it badly because you are so concentrated all the time. We had very consistent lap times and were always in the right position. The car was great. »
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