Keithley and Rietveld take Sachsenring spoils in ADAC GT Masters Esports Championship

Moritz Lohner was on the precipice of becoming a three-time ADAC GT Masters Esports champion. In order to confirm this following the events of Round 6, he would require a 38 point extension on closest rival Jakub Brzezinski. Before the grid lay the Sachsenring; a rollercoaster ride of a circuit where the Bentley charges were looking supreme.

The German’s Porsche was not looking too handy on the timing sheets, so was there a chance for the Pole to reel in the gap?

GT3 QUALIFYING

The top six would be locked out by the Bentley Continental GT3s though the star of the show would end up being Leonard Krippner who claimed his first Sprint Race pole position of the season ahead of the mercurial Nikodem Wisniewski.

Isaac Price was once again on song with a second row start ahead of Tim Jarschel whilst Keithley was always a good bet for victory even in fifth. It was a nightmare session somewhat expected by the championship leader as the Dorr driver could only manage 16th. Thankfully, from his perspective, it was not too disastrous with Brzezinski a somewhat limited eighth.

 

GT3 SPRINT RACE

Thanks to the wide track limits, Keithley was able to fully utilise his fast start with a daring lunge into Coca-Cola Kurve that saw him jump four positions to lead immediately. Krippner was totally offset by this and dropped behind Wisniewski also before door banging with Jarschel led to a tragic spin. First to last in the space of 30 seconds.

A similar move would be performed by Rietveld – who finished in second just a day earlier in the Formula Pro finale – moving from eighth to sixth and behind Brzezinski who had gained early doors. Lohner meanwhile had lost places and was looking no closer to scoring any points.

For the remaining time, the front of the field saw little deviation from the established order. Keithley breezed home to raise the winner’s trophy once more with stablemate Wisniewski and a delighted Jarschel rounding off the podium. David Nagy, despite finishing 11th, would inherit reverse grid pole position due to a penalty for Gianmarco Fiduci in 10th.

 

GT4 RACE

The usual culprits made their mark once again in the GT4 class as Emre Cihan continued his rout of the championship with pole position ahead of Alessandro Ottaviani and Adam Pinczes.

However, the race saw some interest in the fight for third as Julian Kunze would depose Pinczes. Ottaviani wouldn’t lay a finger on Cihan who picked up yet another victory to add to his collection.

Once again, Traxion.GG’s John Munro participated and was running as high as 16th before sadly retiring from the race after running out of fuel.

GT3 FEATURE RACE

The all-Hungarian front row was over before it started with Martin Barna desperately unlucky to be caught on the outside exit of Coca-Cola Kurve. Effectively pit manoeuvring himself against Rietveld, the Dutchman had nowhere to go himself with Christopher Hogfeldt’s Mercedes to his immediate right-hand side. Wisniewski was also caught in the Turn 1 barging.

Running solidly in third for 10 minutes, the Swede’s race would turn sour with a slow-down penalty awarded by the stewards for his part to play in Barna’s dismissal from the podium. This dropped Hogfeldt all the way back to 12th. This time also signalled the opening of the pitlane which was seized upon by Brzezinski, Alexander Dornieden and Bence Banki.

 

Nagy and Keithley, who had started brilliantly once more, would respond a lap later with good reason as the net-race leader only emerged 1.5 seconds ahead of the Williams Bentley. The domino effect continued with Rietveld the following rotation with Brzezinski just tenth’s away from snatching second.

The BMW pilot was looking feisty and fast in this second stint but Nagy was holding firm with some excellent defending. Sadly for M1RA’s hopeful, it was not to be with a move on 18 minutes through Queckenberg. Behind, the bottleneck was creating tense and tight moments for those hoping to nick a podium. Four minutes on from the lead change, Jarschel dived through the Sachsen Kurve on Keithley. Sadly, the German wouldn’t be given the opportunity to press on, suffering an untimely disconnection.

 

The classic Price long run had come to an end with the Brit pitting near the 12-minute mark. His strategy was, on the face of it, impeccable. A fresh set of boots was surely going to make an impact on the podium train he landed in close proximity to. It was a lot more difficult with Nagy refusing to bend to the kitchen sink being thrown at him by Brzezinski though Keithley didn’t fight when he knew it was a lost cause.

Dornieden wasn’t as willing to show such generosity and contact between the pair was inevitable. Though it would actually be contact with Keithley that would send the ex-eWTCC champion into a spin after Price launched himself down the inside of Turn 1. A sight for the sore eyes of Lohner who was running a remarkable race now in sixth. There would be another place gained yet as Keithley was slapped with a slow-down for his part in the incident.

Yet with all the excitement behind him, Rietveld was able to cruise home to his first victory in the championship with a relieved Nagy remaining ahead of Brzezinski. The Pole, though undoubtedly spent in his effort to overtake the Hungarian, would surely be happy at taking the title fight to the final round of the Hockenheim double-header.

And that’s where Season 3 of the ADAC GT Masters Esports Championship will enter the final stretch. Two Feature Races instead of the one and it can all be found 19th October on the Traxion.GG YouTube channel with exclusive English commentary coverage.

 

ADAC GT Masters Esports Championship, Round 6, GT3 Sprint Race results

1. Jack Keithley – Williams Esports 22m53.856s
2. Nikodem Wisniewski +2.540s
3. Tim Jarschel – MRS Esports +2.963s
4. Isaac Price – Privateer +3.419s
5. Jakub Brzezinski – Williams Esports +3.968s
6. Jeffrey Rietveld – Team Redline +4.492s
7. Bence Banki – Dorr Esports +10.807s
8. Christopher Hogfeldt  – Virtualdrivers by TX3 +11.455s
9. Martin Barna – M1RA Esports +13.199s
10. Gianmarco Fiduci* – Team Fordzilla +13.558s

*Before penalty applied

ADAC GT Masters Esports Championship, Round 6, GT3 Feature Race results

1. Jeffrey Rietveld – Team Redline 43m17.688s
2. David Nagy – M1RA Esports +9.076s
3. Jakub Brzezinski – Williams Esports +9.422s
4. Isaac Price – Privateer +9.609s
5. Moritz Lohner – Dorr Esports +10.198s
6. Alexander Dornieden – MRS Esports +11.711s
7. Jack Keithley – Williams Esports +14.611s
8. Bence Banki – Dorr Esports +16.234s
9. Florian Hasse – Dorr Esports +16.675s
10. Christopher Hogfeldt – Virtualdrivers by TX3 +17.474s