ADAC GT Masters and Blancpain Sprint Series.
• Another victory in Gentlemen-Class at ADAC GT Masters• Despite technical issues, Top-6 finish for #22 Nissan• Disappointing Top-10 result for #73 Nissan at Blancpain Sprint Series in Zolder
Whilst Central Europa was swept by a huge heat wave, the race meetings of ADAC GT Masters and the Blancpain Sprint Series were also heating up for MRS. The Ulm-based Team secured another victory in the Gentlemen-Class at ADAC GT Masters, but a system error in the cable harness led to a disappointing weekend. At the Blancpain Sprint Series in Zolder, the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 with the number 73 secured a sixth and tenth place finish.
ADAC GT Masters, Spielberg (Austria)
Following a successful start at the ADAC GT Masters season opener six weeks ago, expectations were high for the third and fourth championship races this weekend. But system errors within the cable harness poised the Nissan GT-R to get quality test-time during Free Practice on Friday. Despite the issues, both MRS racing cars qualified in promising places for the two races.
An additional weight BOP of 15kg for both Nissan sentenced by the DMSB and ADAC just two hours before the race start (meaning now set-up changes could be done) – did not stop the Nissan #22. Dominic Jöst had a great start coming from second on the grid to take the lead going into the first corner past the Porsche. He already had extended his lead by over one second after one lap.
But all work was for nothing, when the Safety Car was deployed following an optimistic overtaking move by the #100 Audi of Dobitsch going into Turn 1 on the second lap. Unfortunately, the #23 Nissan driven by Marc Gassner was hit in this collision and suffered a tyre puncture. In addition, Gassner was not able to restart the car and was forced to retire early on. Jöst managed to get another good re-start and lead the race by far coming into the pits for the driver change. Florian Scholze took over the #22 and returned onto the track in second place. But after a few laps, the electrical issues appeared again and the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 lost power and rolled slowly back into the pits. A double non-finish for the MRS-Team at the Austrian race track.
Dominic Jöst and Florian Scholze secured a sixth place finish and victory in the Gentlemen-Class in the second race of the weekend, which took place on Sunday. They also set the third-fastest lap time of the race. The MRS squad was happy with this result, considering the action-packed race. Following an almost-hit in Turn 1, Scholze fought his way back coming from ninth. When Jöst got into the car, he was able to make up a few more positions and took the third win in the B-Class for Molitor Racing Systems this year.
The #23 Nissan suffered bad luck once more. Florian Strauß was unable to accelerate at the start and dropped from P3 back into 20th position. On his way back up the field, he was touched by the #24 Kfzteile24-Audi by Basseng and suffered a puncture. When team-mate Marc Gassner got behind the wheel of the #23, he managed to get the car (with damage on the front right) into the finish in a disappointing 18th position.
Blancpain Sprint Series, Zolder (Belgian)
Craig Dolby and Sean Walkinshaw also had their few problems during the Blancpain Sprint race at Zolder. The #73 Nissan GT-R fought with brake problems and Dolby only qualified in 12th place. The Englishman was lucky to avoid an accident at the start and managed to climb up the field into seventh place when he handed the car over to Sean Walkinshaw.
Walkinshaw kept sixth place in the #73 Nissan following the pitstop. Just before the end of the one-hour race, there was a tough fight with the #0 BMW. It was so close that both cars touched going into the final corner, Walkinshaw drifting heavily, but thanks to the Nissan-Power managed to rescue sixth position by a fraction of 0.068 seconds.
Walkinshaw had a bad start going into Sunday´s main race and lost four places. At the pitstop, Craig Dolby kept tenth place and he was able to get closer to the #88 Lamborghini to fight for ninth place. But in the end, Dolby did not have the pace to keep up and ended the one-hour race in tenth position.
