Michael Ammermüller (34 / Rotthalmünster) and Christian Engelhart (33 / Starnberg) are the sovereign winners of Saturday's ADAC GT Masters race at the Nürburgring. The Porsche drivers not only won the first season triumph for the 911 GT3 R, but also the first of their SSR Performance team from Munich. The championship leaders Luca Stolz (25 / Brachbach) and Maro Engel (34 / Monte Carlo, both Toksport WRT) in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo crossed the finish line 0.7 seconds behind. Last lap, last year's champions Patric Niederhauser (28 / CH) and Kelvin van der Linde (24 / ZA, both Rutronik Racing) secured third place on the podium in the best Audi R8 LMS. "A great day," said the happy winner Michael Ammermüller. "First the pole position and now the victory.

The Saturday race at the Nürburgring was dominated by the eventual winners from the start. Pole-setter Ammermüller defended the lead at the start and finished the first lap just ahead of Maro Engel. Even in the early stages of the one-hour race, the top duo easily pulled away from their pursuers. Even after a short safety car phase to rescue the Bentley from Constantin Schöll (22 / A) and Jordan Pepper (24 / ZA, both T3-HRT-Motorsport), the Porsche from SSR Performance and the Mercedes-AMG from Toksport WRT stayed front. The mandatory pit stops with a driver change in the middle of the race did not change anything in this order: Christian Engelhart, who took over from Ammermüller, returned to the track ahead of Engel's partner Luca Stolz - without the runner-up having any real opportunity to attack. When the safety car of Rahel Frey (34 / CH) / Hendrik von Danwitz (21 / Tönisvorst, both Aust Motorsport) drove onto the track a second time in the final quarter of an hour of the race due to an accident with the Audi, the third-placed finishers were almost 15 Seconds behind the two leaders. At the finish, Engelhart had a 0.7 second lead and thus secured his SSR Performance team their first victory in only the fifth race in the ADAC GT Masters.

It was the 13th overall for Engelhart, the runner-up in 2019, and the third for team-mate Ammermüller. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz finished second in the third race of the season on the podium for the third time and thus maintained their championship lead - a perfect present at the home game of their Toksport WRT team. the third placed were already almost 15 seconds behind the two front runners. At the finish, Engelhart had a 0.7 second lead and thus secured his SSR Performance team their first victory in only the fifth race in the ADAC GT Masters. It was the 13th overall for Engelhart, the runner-up in 2019, and the third for team-mate Ammermüller. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz finished second in the third race of the season on the podium for the third time and thus maintained their championship lead - a perfect present at the home game of their Toksport WRT team. the third placed were already almost 15 seconds behind the two front runners. At the finish, Engelhart had a 0.7 second lead and thus secured his SSR Performance team their first victory in only the fifth race in the ADAC GT Masters. It was the 13th overall for Engelhart, the runner-up in 2019, and the third for team-mate Ammermüller. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz finished second in the third race of the season on the podium for the third time and thus maintained their championship lead - a perfect present at the home game of their Toksport WRT team. for team-mate Ammermüller the third. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz finished second in the third race of the season on the podium for the third time and thus maintained their championship lead - a perfect present at the home game of their Toksport WRT team. for team-mate Ammermüller the third. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz finished second in the third race of the season on the podium for the third time and thus maintained their championship lead - a perfect present at the home game of their Toksport WRT team.

Audi drivers Patric Niederhauser and Kelvin van der Linde, the champions of the previous year, achieved their first podium of the season with spectacular overtaking maneuvers in the final phase in third place. Van der Linde had taken over the R8 LMS in eighth and fought his way forward in the second half of the race. The South African only secured the podium in the last lap. In contrast, Porsche works driver Simona De Silvestro (31 / CH) only just missed her first top 3 finish. Together with Klaus Bachler (29 / A, both Küs Team75 Bernhard) she crossed the finish line in fourth place just 0.9 seconds behind. Mick Wishofer (20 / A) and Dorian Boccolacci (21 / F) finished fifth at the home game of their team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing. Wishofer also won the Pirelli Junior classification for young drivers.

Audi drivers Patric Niederhauser and Kelvin van der Linde, the champions of the previous year, achieved their first podium of the season with spectacular overtaking maneuvers in the final phase in third place. Van der Linde had taken over the R8 LMS in eighth and fought his way forward in the second half of the race. The South African only secured the podium in the last lap. In contrast, Porsche works driver Simona De Silvestro (31 / CH) only just missed her first top 3 finish. Together with Klaus Bachler (29 / A, both Küs Team75 Bernhard) she crossed the finish line in fourth place just 0.9 seconds behind. Mick Wishofer (20 / A) and Dorian Boccolacci (21 / F) finished fifth at the home game of their team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing. Wishofer also won the Pirelli Junior classification for young drivers.

Philip Ellis (27 / GB) and Raffaele Marciello (25 / I, both Knaus-Team HTP-Winward) finished sixth in another Mercedes-AMG ahead of the Porsche of Robert Renauer (35 / Vierkirchen) and Sven Müller (28 / Bingen am Rhein, both Precote Herberth Motorsport). Birthday child Dennis Marschall (24 / Eggenstein), together with Carrie Schreiner (21 / Völklingen, both Rutronik Racing), was happy about the points for eighth place. Ninth place went to Marvin Dienst (23 / Lampertheim) and Philipp Frommenwiler (30 / CH, both DLV Team Schütz Motorsport) in a Mercedes-AMG. The Lamborghini works drivers Franck Perera (36 / F) and Albert Costa Balboa (30 / E, both GRT Grasser Racing Team) had to be content with tenth place. You had originally crossed the finish line in fifth place, but were subsequently given a 5-second penalty for pushing another car.

The Czech Filip Salaquarda (36), who shared the Audi R8 LMS of Team ISR with Frank Stippler (45 / Bad Münstereifel) from Eifel, clinched his second victory of the year in the Pirelli Trophy classification.

The second race of the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring starts on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. There spectators are again allowed. Tickets are only available online at www.adac.de/motorsport

Quotes from the winners:

Michael Ammermüller (SSR Performance, Porsche 911 GT3 R):
"It was important to start from pole position and to implement it at the start. That is we succeeded and we stayed in the lead. The team gave us a perfect car and we didn't make any mistakes. "

Christian Engelhart (SSR Performance, Porsche 911 GT3 R):
"Michael already showed a great performance in qualifying. The race wasn't as easy as it looked. The Mercedes always put pressure on from behind. I could never rest and always had to push. I couldn't make a mistake. During the I picked up the pickup safety cars, but I managed a very good lap after the restart. I was very happy about that. But in the end I was happy when the race was over. "