Niklas Krütten and team-mate Ben Green (GB) enjoyed a perfect race at round three of this season’s ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring, Austria.
The two GT3 newcomers from the Schubert Motorsport team claimed their maiden victory in only their third race in the ADAC GT Masters, and caused something of a sensation in doing so. The duo also take their place in the BMW history books: This was the first success for the brand-new BMW M4 GT3 in the German GT Championship. In contrast, this was win number twelve in the ADAC GT Masters for Schubert Motorsport.
Having qualified third in the number 10 car, Britain’s Ben Green climbed into first place after some spectacular battles in the first half of the race. He handed the BMW M4 GT3 over to Krütten in the lead, and the German showed nerves of steel in his stint. Not even an open driver’s door, which did not close during the driver changeover, could distract the 19-year-old, who impressed with a strong performance on the undulating track. He spent many laps fending off attacks from the chasing cars, but brought the car home safely to take victory for the Schubert Motorsport team.
Niklas Krütten: “To be honest, I can’t quite believe that we have won. After the results in Oschersleben, I did not think it would go so well. However, the team was incredibly good and Ben did a mega job. The open door caused me a little panic, because I could not get it closed. I tried to close it when exiting the pit lane, on the straights and even in corners, with just one hand on the steering wheel – it simply would not shut. Then it suddenly closed properly in a turn and I was able to focus fully on the race again. The tyres degraded badly towards the end, but I avoided making any mistakes and secured my maiden victory in the ADAC GT Masters.”