Best finish of the season for HB Racing

The Austrian team’s improvement was showcased by the fifth-place secured by Luca Ludwig and Sebastian Asch in Race-2 of the ADAC GT Masters, held on the short track of the Nürburgring. Like the first race, all the teams had to reckon with the threat of rain and the strong wind. The downpour in the qualifying session had already ruined the plans of Asch's Ferrari, which had to make do with the fourth row. The particular design of the first turn, allowing different lines of entry, set the scene for a somewhat frantic start in which Asch's Ferrari lost a position, while many cars, including Asch’s 488 GT3, struggled to avoid Engelhart's Lamborghini which spun out of turn 4. However, Maximilian Paul's Audi wasn’t so lucky, with his collision causing the immediate entry of the Safety Car. It only withdrew again with 49 minutes to go. Asch resumed the race in very decisive style, going on the attack and passing the Audi of Haase before locking onto the tail of Mapelli in the Lamborghini. HB Racing’s strategy envisaged a very long stint for Asch who returned to the pit a few moments before the end of the mandatory stop window, leaving Ludwig to continue the duel with the Lamborghini, now driven by Michele Beretta. Under pressure from the Ferrari driver, the Italian made a similar mistake to his teammate on exiting turn 4. He didn’t lose control of the car but did leave the way open to Ludwig. Having seized sixth place, Ludwig continued his comeback by overtaking the Porsche of Adrian De Leener to cross the line in fifth, only 9.282 seconds behind the winner. The Nürburgring result is the best so far this season and confirms the improvement of the team that can now look ahead more optimistically to the penultimate round of the championship in Hockenheim from 13 to 15 September.