Racing Experience Sweeps The Championship Board
A 2023 season that saw grid numbers growing for the Prototype Cup Germany saw ex Michelin Le Mans Cup Squad Racing Experience from Luxembourg and their two-driver squad of Gary Hauser and Marcus Pommel crowned as both team and drivers champions after the final double-header race weekend of the season at Nürburgring.
The team had clinched the drivers championship last time out at Assen but had work to do in the teams stakes still.
Race 1
The teams title came too though courtesy of a fourth race win of the season for the Hauser/ Pommel combo in their Duqueine D08 on Saturday.
Second place went to Aust Motorsport Ligier JS P320 solo driver Nigel Moore with the MRS-GT Ligier pair of Jan Marschalkowski and Guilherme de Oliveira completing the podium.
Pommer had initially started the race from pole position. However, the former ADAC GT Masters driver braked a little late in turn one allowing Felipe Laser in the Frikadelli Racing Ligier to take the lead.
On the move too though was Nigel Moore, who was able to move up from eleventh on the grid to fourth position right behind Guilherme de Oliveira from MRS GT-Racing.
Laser and Pommer fought for the lead before Laser edged away before the obligatory pit stops. De Oliveira and Moore held station until the pitstops but quick work by Aust Motorsport and rapid in and out laps from Moore put him ahead of de Oliveira’s teammate Jan Marschalkowski. The lead in the second half of the race was then initially held by Lasers’ partner Klaus Abbelen but the local hero was unable to fend off the rapid drivers around him, he’d slip down the order to 12th by the flag but would take the win in the Trophy classification.
Gary Hauser meanwhile was away and clear from and engaging scrap between Nigel Moore and ADAC Sports Foundation protégé, Marschalkowski, the experienced Briton would stay ahead, and the gap post-race would grow thanks to a five second penalty for a white line infringement from the their placed car, the pair though would retain their podium spot and would claim the win in the Junior category.
Race 2
Van Ommen Racing’s Oscar Tunjo and Julien Apothéloz took the win in Sunday’s Nurburgring season finale and in doing so clinched the runner-up slot in the Championship.
The race would be an entertaining affair and produced plenty of spectacular action on the track before Tunjo and Apothéloz claimed the win in their Van Ommen Racing by DataLab Duqueine D08.
It would be a matched pair of solo second places of the weekend for the Aust Motorsport Ligier of Nigel Moore with third place going to another Duqueine, this time the Gustavo Kyrila and Nico Göhler driven BWT Mücke Motorsport machine.
“We are obviously absolutely delighted. We started the season with a race win and ended the year with a victory. That is the perfect end to a season,” said Apothéloz, who also finished runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship together with Tunjo.
Göhler started the race from pole position. However, Nigel Moore had overtaken the BWT Mücke Motorsport driver and taken the lead by the end of the second lap. Moore managed to open a bit of a lead as the race progressed, while Göhler could not prevent Jacob Erlbacher’s Gebhardt Motorsport Duqueine from taking second place.
Around the midway point of the race, the safety car was called into action to allow the DKR Engineering Duqueine of Valentino Catalano to be recovered from the edge of the circuit, resulting in the front of the field bunching together again. Eventual race winner Apothéloz was running sixth at this point of the race.
As soon as the race resumed, the pit stop window opened. Göhler’s team-mate Kyrila initially led the field after the driver changeover, but was soon powerless to stop Moore and Tunjo, who had taken over from Apothéloz, from passing him. The front two then proceeded to pull clear of the 15-strong field and Moore went on to cross the finish line ahead of Tunjo. However, the Brit was handed a five-second penalty for snaking excessively to heat his tyres after the grid sign on the formation lap. Victory then went to Tunjo/Apothéloz. The Swiss also won the Junior competition.
A captivating battle for third place developed between Kyrila and Jacob Erlbacher. However, the Gebhardt Motorsport driver was unable to find a way past the Brazilian and ended the race in fourth place.
Eighth place finishers, son and father Max and Mark van der Snel had a double title celebration in their #99 More Motorsport by Reiter Ligier.
Their finish was enough to earn Max the title in the Junior competition. His father Mark van der Snel crowned as Trophy champion.
Champions
Christian Hauser, Racing Experience Team Owner, said, “I am so proud of our team and every team member. Neither the crew nor the drivers did any mistakes and that’s why we deserve both titles!”
Markus Pommer and Gary Hauser, Drivers #15 Racing Experience said, “Our aim was beneath the drivers title to win also the team title, which we did. A big thanks goes to the crew for a perfect car and season.”
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