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BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert claimed win number four of the season at the penultimate race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters in Zandvoort (NL). In doing so, it kept its hopes of winning the title in the Drivers’ and Team competitions alive. Dominik Baumann (AT) and Jens Klingmann (DE) were initially only the second car across the finish line in the number 80 BMW Z4 GT3 powered by HUAWEI on Sunday, having finished tenth in Saturday’s race. However, a 30-second penalty handed to the only car in front of them, that of Jaap van Lagen (NL)/Tomas Enge (CZ), gave the team from Oschersleben (DE) every cause for celebration. 

Following their fourth appearance on the top step of the podium, Baumann/Klingmann go into the season finale in Hockenheim (DE) on 3rd and 4th October trailing overall leaders Sebastian Asch (DE)/Luca Ludwig (DE), who won on Saturday, by 31 points. 50 points are up for grabs in the final two races of the season. In the Team competition, BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert is twelve points off the lead. 

After losing several positions late on in Saturday’s race due to tyre issues, and eventually having to settle for just one point for tenth place, Baumann/Klingmann fared considerably better from pole position on Sunday. They led the field from the start, until Klingmann was unable to fend off the attacks of ex-Formula One driver Tomas Enge on the penultimate lap. However, an infringement of the rules during the re-start after a safety car phase saw Enge penalised and Baumann/Klingmann promoted to first place after the race. 

Claudia Hürtgen (DE) and Uwe Alzen (DE) endured a disappointing weekend in the number 19 car. On Saturday, Alzen was forced into a spin in the second half of the race, leaving them to trail home in 13th place. On Sunday, Alzen was the innocent victim of a collision between two other cars on the opening lap. The result was a broken suspension on his BMW Z4 GT3 and a disappointing retirement. 

Timo Frings (Team Manager): “The stewards’ decision was a nice way to end the weekend for us. We would obviously have preferred to win out on the track, but we are obviously happy to take the extra seven points with us. Our championship hopes are still alive, including in the Team competition. We will try to defend second place and put pressure on those ahead of us. It was a weekend to forget for Claudia and Uwe. Uwe was forced off twice, which is very disappointing.” 

Uwe Alzen (BMW Z4 GT3 #19): “The kind of driving we have seen here is unacceptable. I am not usually one to complain, but this is the fourth time we have been forced off. At some point, however, you have to say ‘that is enough’. Everyone here puts a huge amount of work into what we do here. These people need to be made to answer for their actions in the race office. A race like this lasts an hour with a pit stop, driver changeover and possibly safety cars – you need to show a bit of patience in this situation.” 

Dominik Baumann (BMW Z4 GT3 powered by HUAWEI #80): “We are obviously delighted to be awarded the win after the race. The fact that we lost the lead so quickly towards the end of the race once again reflects the problems we struggled with on Saturday. Despite this, it is still all to play for in the championship. Asch and Ludwig had similar problems today to the ones we had yesterday, and things did not run smoothly here for Klaus Bachler either.”