Sharing the cockpit of the second-best 500 hp Porsche 911 GT3 R for Saturday’s race at the coastal circuit, Klaus Bachler and Adrien de Leener took the flag in 21st place for KÜS Team75 Bernhard.
Start driver Renauer from Germany took up the 60-minute race on the 4.307-kilometre Circuit Zandvoort from 15th on the grid. In the first lap, the Bavarian made up three positions. After 13 laps, Renauer handed the 911 GT3 R to his teammate Jaminet. The Porsche-supported junior driver from France succeeded in making up even more ground, and crossed the finish line in tenth place. However, after contact with another vehicle, the team was handed a one-second penalty, which relegated the driver pair to twelfth. “We were going well early on, but various incidents cost us several places. In terms of performance, we could definitely have finished on eighth,” explained Renauer.
KÜS Team75 Bernhard drivers made up nine positions
Bachler (Austria) and the Belgian de Leener headed into the race from 30th on the grid in the #18 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Putting in a spirited performance, the two KÜS Team75 Bernhard drivers made up nine positions. “We experienced bad luck in the qualifying and we couldn’t achieve a decent time due to the many red-flag phases. Overtaking on this narrow circuit is extremely difficult, but we still managed to work our way up the field,” said de Leener.
KÜS Team75 Bernhard
The newcomer team IronForce by Ring Police took the flag in 29th place. Jan-Erik Slooten and Lucas Luhr from Germany headed into the race from 31st and managed to make up six places before several collisions put a stop to their charge. “Already at the start there were a number of moves that didn’t exactly comply with the rules. We were plagued by bad luck. After the driver change, Lucas had a slow puncture and had to come into the pits. That cost us a lot of time,” explained Slooten.
The race was over in lap four for the second 911 GT3 R fielded by KÜS Team75 Bernhard when it became entangled in a collision caused by another competitor. Joining the two-time overall Le Mans winner Timo Bernhard in the cockpit for this weekend is the World Endurance Champion Marc Lieb. Lieb stands in for Kévin Estre, who is contesting the FIA WEC at Silverstone this weekend. “The opening lap went well and I managed to gain three places. At the restart, another vehicle hit my right front wheel and broke the rim. Had this not happened we would have been able to finish further up the field,” declared Bernhard.
1. Perez Companc/Mapelli (RA/I), Lamborghini Huracán GT3
2. van der Linde/van der Linde (ZA/ZA), Audi R8 LMS
3. Dennis/Mies (GB/D), Audi R8 LMS
12. Jaminet/Renauer (F/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R
21. Bachler/de Leener (A/B), Porsche 911 GT3 R
29. Luhr/Slooten (D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R
Not classified
Bernhard/Lieb (D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 R
The 911 GT3 R in Zandvoort
Round ten of the ADAC GT Masters in Zandvoort takes off on Sunday, 19 August, at 13:08 hrs. The grid positions on the circuit at the North Sea are determined in a morning qualifying session starting at 9am. The race is broadcast live on SPORT1 as well as on the internet at www.sport1.de, www.adac.de/motorsport and www.youtube.com/adac. Contesting the “super sports car league” alongside Porsche are Audi, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Honda, Lamborghini and Mercedes-AMG.
