Toksport WRT Celebrates Another Podium At The Red Bull Ring
Toksport WRT enjoyed a good weekend in the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz collected in both races important points for the championship. The duo even landed with their Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo on the podium in the second race. In the overall standings the Mercedes drivers are in third place, so the title is still within reach.
Two weeks ago, Toksport WRT was already able to celebrate its halftime championship in the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring. The team from Quiddelbach, not far away from the legendary Nürburgring, wanted to continue this success in Austria. However the first qualifying session on the Red Bull Ring made clear once again how close the field is in the “League of Super Sports Cars”. Luca Stolz missed the fastest time by less than half a second and had to start the first race from seventh place on the grid.
Stolz lost a few positions in the bustle of the first few corners and dropped back to twelfth place. At least the duo fought their way back to the front of the field to collect important points for the championship. Team-mate Maro Engel, who took over the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the second half of the race, crossed the finish line in tenth position.
2nd place on Sunday
In the second race on Sunday things went even better: Maro Engel reached third place on the grid in qualifying, lost some places in the turbulent starting phase at first, but worked his way back to the front thanks to a clever tactic. Because the duo decided to make an early pit stop, Luca Stolz could use the free track. In addition, the Mercedes duo benefited from multiple penalties against the competition, which disregarded track limits and thus gained an advantage. At the finish line, the Mercedes duo finally finished in a good second place.
After the fifth of seven race weekends, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz are in third position in the drivers’ championship. However, the top three are close together, with only six points separating them. Toksport WRT is also in third place in the team classification, only five points behind the leaders. Everything is possible at the upcoming events and the titles in the driver and team championship are within reach.
The next race of the ADAC GT Masters will take place from 30 October to 1 November. Due to the current corona situation, however, the event will not be held in Zandvoort in the Netherlands as planned, but at the Lausitzring. Toksport WRT has good memories to this track: At the season opener in August Maro Engel and Luca Stolz celebrated their first victory of the season. The finale will be held at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben just one week later (November 6-8).
