The DMV STGT season at the Nürburgring ended with victories for Gregor Drasal (Lamborghini Huracan ST) and Ioannis Smyrlis. In the first race, Drasal kept permanent rival Smyrlis just behind him, while Smyrlis won sovereignly in round two. The championship title went to Paul Schubert (Porsche Cayman GT4).
Thanks to Michael Golz (Lamborghini Huracan ST), the previous duel between Smyrlis and Drasal got additional spice. At the first race in the Eifel, however, Golz played no role in the question of the overall winner. As in the summer, Drasal and Smyrlis fought out the race between themselves. In the meantime, Drasal had built up a slight lead, but this shrank again towards the middle of the race. In the end, 0.793 seconds separated the two GT cars. "In the race, I didn't let myself get out of sync. Everything went well. I lost time again when I lapped. I didn't want to take any risks. Towards the end, Ioanis came a bit closer, but it ended well. We are very satisfied," said Drasal about his victory. Ioannis Smyrlis described his race as follows: "I had a great start and managed to get to the front. I just about came around the corner, but my tyres weren't there. In lap two I had to hand the lead back to Gregor Drasal. I tried to keep up, but it just didn't work. In the end it was 0.7 seconds. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough."
Race two goes to Smyrlis
Handicapped by problems at the rear axle, Michael Golz could not finish the first race in third place. But the Lambo driver was wide awake at the start of the second race. When the lights turned green, he took both Drasal and Smyrlis by surprise. The winner of the first race clamped behind his brand colleague, but shortly afterwards slid his rear wheel into the gravel in the AMG Arena and spun away. As a result, Smyrlis was on the leader's tail, whose rear axle gave trouble again. Smyrlis took full advantage of this. At the entrance to the AMG Arena, the Porsche driver went past and saw the black and white chequered flag with a lead of over 28 seconds. "That was a mega race today. It was a super start by Michael Golz. I dropped back to third for a short while, but was quickly able to work my way back up to second. At the entrance to the Mercedes Arena I took my first chance and was able to pass Michael. I pushed hard until the last lap because I didn't know if the guys behind me would be able to catch me again," Smyrlis said.
Despite problems with the rear axle, Michael Golz took a commanding second place. "I had a great start. One lap went very well. Then the problems with the rear axle became noticeable again. Especially in the Mercedes Arena, when the load went from left to right, the car was very unstable. There I lost a second compared to the other one. If Drasal hadn't spun away, second place probably wouldn't have been possible," Michael Golz admitted. Georg Drasal had fallen far behind due to the spin, but still managed third place in the end. "We actually had quite a good start. But Michael Golz took us a bit by surprise. After that it was a thrilling three-way fight for one lap. On lap two, while trying to get past the other Lambo in the Mercedes Arena, I hit the gravel with my rear wheel and unfortunately spun. I still made it to third place, but with caution because I didn't know if there was any damage to the car," Drasal said.
With class victory to the championship title
The GTS 4 was full - which meant a lot of competition for Paul Schubert, but also the opportunity to score the maximum points. And the youngster made the most of his opportunity with class victory in the first race. "I wanted to start the race safely. It would have been enough if I had scored ten points. The TCR Seats were extremely strong. The race was therefore already very exciting, but it was a lot of fun. In the end, it was close, but we scored P1 and have the championship in the bag," said Schubert. Indeed, Dominik Haselsteiner in the Seat Cupra TCR proved to be a strong competitor. Although Schubert had gained some space at the start, the Austrian moved closer and closer as the race progressed. When Schubert picked up the pace again, he was sure of victory with a lead of 3.85 seconds. Lothar Schubert (Cayman GT4) was also close behind. In the second race, Haselsteiner took the lead ahead of Paul Schubert. When the Seat driver had to pit on the sixth lap, Schubert was back in first place. Shortly afterwards, Lothar Schubert passed his son and snatched the class win with a lead of over nine seconds. Third place in GTS 4 went to Florian Bauer, who thus made the team result for east-racing Motorsport perfect.
Bastian Hein (BMW M4 GT4 G82) also travelled to the Eifel with a chance of winning the title. With his two class victories, Hein was able to take the vice-championship ahead of Ioannis Smyrlis. In the race, Hein first had to get in line behind Frank Anhorn (BMW M4 GT4 G82). It took a few laps before Hein was able to get in front of his brand colleague. "It took forever for the tyre to come up to temperature. When the temperature was right, I was finally able to pick up my pace and increase the gap to the rear a bit. After that it worked great until the end and I was able to bring the position safely to the finish," said the fourth overall. Right behind him, Frank Anhorn crossed the finish line eight seconds behind. Third in GTS 3 was Sophie Hofmann (Audi R8 GT4) after she had fought her way past Arpad Viszokay (BMW M4 GT4 F82). While Hein again won the GTS 3 in the second race in fourth place overall, the places behind him were changed. In a close duel, Hofmann came out on top by a narrow half-second lead.
In the GTM Cup class, Markus Nölken (BMW M240i RC) and Marius Jonas Schäfer (Seat Leon Supercopa Mk2) shared the victories. In the first race, Schäfer, who was in first place, had to give up early. Nölken took the class win ahead of Alex Koch and Lilly Anhorn (both BMW M240i RC). In race two, on the other hand, Schäfer left no stone unturned and won with a gap of over 24 seconds to second place. It was a very exciting race for second place. Just 0.291 seconds separated Nölken and Koch.
The next season of DMV STGT starts in Hockenheim from March 22th-24th.
Photos & Text: arpRedaktionsbüro Patrick Holzer
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