The ROWE RACING team again showed a strong team performance in the penultimate season round of the 2014 ADAC GT Masters. In the event, marked by changeable weather conditions, Maro Engel (Monaco) and Jan Seyffarth (Germany) scored a sixth and an eighth place while the duo of Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) and Nico Bastian (Germany) finished seventh and eleventh in the two races. Thus, the team from Worms in Germany brought its total to 15 top ten results in its maiden season in the super sports car league. In both races at the Sachsenring, ROWE RACING also ran the best-placed Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the field.
ROWE RACING’s team principal, Hans-Peter Naundorf: “I am very happy with our achievements. At the Sachsenring, it is very difficult to overtake on the track. Therefore, we wanted to reach the best possible starting grid positions in qualifying, but in both sessions, other competitors got in the way over and over again. Our strategies for the races worked out very well. The weather spiced up the action even more. A big hand to all four drivers who mastered the quickly changing conditions in an excellent way. Now, we are all looking forward to the season finale at the Hockenheimring.”
RACE 1: Saturday, 20 September, 2014
After changeable conditions in qualifying on Friday, the ROWE RACING cars started from the sixth (#22 P12) and the seventh (#23 P13) row on the grid respectively. In dry conditions, the two starting drivers, Nico Bastian and Maro Engel, both had a good start and were able to make progress on the opening lap already. The remainder of the race was quite a thrilling affair, in which Maro Engel brought his gullwing all the way up into eighth place. The former DTM driver was one of the first to come in for the mandatory pit stop and handed the car to Jan Seyffarth. The latter kept the pressure on in the field, so that the #23 car was already up in sixth place at the end of the pit stop window. Seyffarth then managed to defend this position until the finish. ROWE RACING’s sister car had bad luck during the driver change halfway through the race. The #22 incurred a drive-through penalty for a pit lane speed infringement. After the additional stop, final driver Jaime Alguersuari rejoined the field in 15th place. However, the Spanish ex-Formula 1 driver continued to push and worked his way up in the ROWE RACING SLS AMG GT3 to finish eleventh.
RACE 2: Sunday, 21 September, 2014
In the race on Sunday, the two ROWE RACING cars each had a very different start in dry conditions. While Jaime Alguersuari, who started from 13th place on the grid with the #22 car, was able to hold on to his position, Jan Seyffarth, who started from tenth position, had bad luck and lost time due to an accident that happened in front of him. The #23 gullwing dropped back more than ten positions and had to start working its way up again. Until the halfway point, Seyffarth had made it back up into 13th place as he handed the car to Maro Engel. Alguersuari also made up positions and was replaced by Nico Bastian in ninth place. Towards the end of the race, a sudden rain shower caused additional excitement, but ROWE RACING’s two final drivers showed strong nerves and continued their progress. Nico Bastian finally came home seventh, followed by Maro Engel, who made his way up on a wet track to finish eighth.
The next ADAC GT Masters round is taking the ROWE RACING team to the Hockenheimring that will host the grand season finale of the super sports car league from 3 till 5 October, 2014.