ROWE RACING is bowing out of its debut season in the ADAC GT Masters series with mixed feelings: in the first of the two races in the season finale at Hockenheim, the duo of Maro Engel (Monaco) and Jan Seyffarth (Germany) finished fifth. Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) and Nico Bastian (Germany) came ninth with the team’s second SLS AMG GT3. In the race on Sunday, however, both cars retired after collisions. The achievements from the Saturday mean that ROWE RACING scored 17 top ten results over the season. In the final standings of the 2014 ADAC GT Masters, ROWE RACING ended up seventh among the 15 teams taking part in the series. In the drivers’ standings, Maro Engel and Jan Seyffarth racked up a total of 79 points and were classified twelfth. Jaime Alguersuari and Nico Bastian, who only competed from the third meeting onwards, concluded their first season in the super sports car league in 29th place with a total of 24 points.
ROWE RACING’s team principal, Hans-Peter Naundorf: “First of all, congratulations to René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde from the Prosperia C. Abt Racing team for their well-deserved title win. In spite of our two retirements today, my verdict of ROWE RACING’s season is positive. In our first year in the ADAC GT Masters, we were able to establish ourselves in a successful way. With Maro and Jan, we had a very good start into the season. Therefore, we decided to enter a second car at an early stage already. Nico and Jaime also found their way very quickly. Of course, there were also setbacks and learning moments that are inevitable for a newcomer, but all in all, I am very happy. My thanks go out to everyone in the team for working very hard throughout the year. And, of course, also to our partners for their great support.”
RACE 1: Saturday, 4 October, 2014
The decision in the battle for the title in favour of René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde in the penultimate race of the season was the main talking point at the Hockenheimring on Saturday. However, the two ROWE RACING cars managed to finish ahead of the freshly-crowned champions (P10) in the thrilling race. In great racing conditions, Maro Engel started from sixth place with the ROWE RACING SLS AMG GT3 #23. In the sister car with number #22, Nico Bastian started from tenth place. Both drivers had a good start: while Engel held on to his position, Bastian managed to make up one place and put his racing gullwing in ninth position. There, they remained until the mandatory pit stops with driver change at the halfway point. Both Jan Seyffarth, who took over from Maro Engel, and Jaime Alguersuari, who took the wheel from Nico Bastian, continued to impress with a masterful drive and fast laps. At the end of the one-hour race, they secured the next top ten results for ROWE RACING: Seyffarth came home fifth and Alguersuari finished ninth.
RACE 2: Sunday, 5 October, 2014
ROWE RACING had claimed ninth (#23) and 20th (#22) place on the grid for the final race of the season. After a good start, Jan Seyffarth initially maintained his position in the #23 SLS AMG GT3. Jaime Alguersuari was able to move up through the ranks right after the start with the #22 car. However, progress of the ex-Formula 1 driver came to a halt following a collision on lap seven already. The Spaniard still made it back to the pits, but wasn’t able to continue the race due to the damage. With the sister car, Jan Seyffarth and Maro Engel made their planned driver change at an early stage, which allowed the duo to make up one place. Only a few minutes after re-joining the race, however, the gullwing with Maro Engel behind the wheel became innocently involved in a collision and ended the final race of the season in the gravel trap.