Racereport Lausitzring: 10.09.22
Arpad Viszokay and Max Rosam (BMW M4 GT4) won the final of the DMV NES 500. The duo was unbeatable at the Lausitzring, even if there were tremors shortly before the end. Behind them, Henriksen/Vodder (Audi RS3 TCR) and Luther/Kortüm (BMW M4 GT4) finished on the podium.
It was the high light of an almost perfect racing season. Arpad Viszokay started six times this year and finished first in the race five times. Only at the start of the season in Hockenheim the Hungarian finished with a third place. The fact that regular partners Gabriele Piana and Adam Lengley had other commitments for the final was not a disadvantage for Viszokay. Because with young talent Max Rosam, a pilot jumped into the breach who did his job excellently. The youngster confidently put the BMW on pole and only had to give up the lead briefly in the starting phase. Back in first place, the duo didn't let go of it. Until a few minutes before the end of the race, the big tremors started. The gearbox went on strike, so that Viszokay was no longer able to use the shift paddles in his final turn and drove the car in automatic mode. As a result, Henriksen/Vodder and Luther/Kortüm, who were driving behind, rounded back again. In the end, the M4 duo saved themselves over the race time, which was reduced to 2.45 hours. "Now I feel a little bit better. Because of the gearbox problems, it was difficult to reach the finish line. But finally we succeeded. I had a great teammate in Max Rosam so everything went wonderfully. I'm very satisfied. The season has been long, but now we are happy to end the season successfully,” said a relieved Arpad Viszokay, who secured the title in the Goodyear Sponsors Cup Europe. Max Rosam was satisfied with his debut alongside the new champion:" Winning at the end makes us all happy. It went well for me, too. I set the fastest race lap and handed over the car in first position. After that, Arpad drove a few laps. Shortly before the end of the race I drove a few more laps. Arpad then crossed the finish line and celebrated his championship win.”
With the usual distance of the race, things would have gotten tight. Because Henriksen/Vodder set a high pace in their TCR car. The leader lost more than ten seconds per lap. Thanks to their fast pace, the two Danes managed to overtake the BMW M4 GT4 driven by Luther/Kortüm five laps before the end. They were also fast, but not with the same speed as the Danish Audi. When the checkered flag fell, they were 1.15 minutes behind the first place, while Luther/Kortüm finished about seven minutes behind. Fourth place went to van den Munckhof/Poland (KK BMW M2 GTR), who still achieved a respectable result after two additional stops. There could have been more.
Win in the last few minutes
With only a few minutes to drive, the decision was made in the NES 5. Here, Nieman/Knop (Renault Clio 4) were actually in the lead for a long time. In lap five, the two Dutchmen had ousted Eis/Ohlsson in the VW Scirocco from first place in the NES 5. The Clio kept pulling away from Eis, who was struggling with tire problems. With a strong team performance, Eis/Ohlsson converted the deficit into a lead of 2.9 seconds. “At the start I thought it was going to be really difficult. I had some problems with the tires there. Finally, we changed the tactics a bit. It was a bit of a gamble. It could also have gone wrong. In the end it was a great fight with my colleagues. A good end to the season for us,” said Philipp Eis. Teammate Pia Ohlsson added: “Of course it was a pity that we had lost time at the beginning. We were almost ten seconds behind. I was able to reduce the distance a bit in my turn. As I said, after the change we changed our tactics again. In the end everything went well.” Third place in the NES 5 went to Brezina/Müller in the Opel Astra Cup.
The NES 8 was a clear affair for Henriksen/Vodder, but the duo also benefited from the renewed problems with Hammel/Nehls' Opel Astra TCR. The first kilometers of the race belonged to Heiko Hammel and the experienced Astra driver was in the lead for four laps. Then Max Rosam and van Vliet/Cavanagh/Schouten passed in the lightning-fast BMW M3 E92. When the Dutch got into trouble early,Hammel was temporarily back in second place.But a long pit stop threw the two Opel drivers far back. The catch-up ended for Hammel/Nehls on the ninth position. The brand colleagues Redlich/Redlich/Cordes placed in front of them, taking second place in the NES 8.
In front of the two Opels, Driescher/Baum/Neuhauser saw the black and white checkered flag in the BMW M240i RC Evo. The three dominated the sparsely composed class NES 6+7. “The start went well. We drove a different tire compound today that works faster. That went fine. The car went great. I'm very satisfied," said Ingo Baum. For the first time, the duo started together with Michael Neuhauser. He was satisfied with his performance: “ It was my first time driving this car and I was really happy with it. I cracked the two minutes. It was really cool. Three of us have ridden before and it was really nice.”
Pawlow/Hansen in the NES 3 in front
There was no doubt about the victory of Alex Pawlow and Andreas Hansen (BMW 328i ST E36) in the NES 3. The duo had the class under control after teammates Heidrich/Volmer (BMW 328i ST E36) were out of race. Behind them Uenzen/Uenzen/Hulm (BMW 325i E90) were in front of Capliuk/Ponkratz (BMW 328iS E36) and Schultz/Kramer (BMW 325iS E90). After the bad luck at the Nürburgring, Ioannis Smyrlis and Paul Heinisch were able to cheer at Lausitzring. With a two-lap lead over Cavelty/Alpiger/Henggeler and Hermann/ Hermann/Hermann (all BMW 318ti Cup), the duo easily won the NES 1+2 class.
Pictures & Text: arp Redaktionsbüro Patrick Holzer
