A drive-through for failing to keep to the minimum pit stop time knocked the 488 GT3 of HB Racing out of the top ten but did negate another excellent performance for the Austrian team. On the German track, unseasonably cool temperatures of 22.2 degrees on the asphalt and 17.6 degrees in the air, and the threat of rain, averted the risk of rapid degradation of the rubber and raised expectations for an exciting race.
Caution. The start did not disappoint. The Ferrari driven by Ludwig, which began in the middle of the group, coolly handled some very tricky situations at the first turn with the cars all bunched together. The driver of the 488 GT3 of HB Racing pulled off a brilliant pass on Ellis to slip into tenth position. With less than forty minutes and 31 laps to go, with rain starting to soak the German circuit, Ludwig made his mandatory pit stop, handing over to Sebastian Asch.
Penalty. The German broke the regulation minimum pit stop time by just two-tenths of a second, suffering a drive-through penalty that once again compromised an excellent result, costing the team the seventh position it had held at that point. After passing through the pit lane, Asch returned to the track in seventeenth but nevertheless managed to close in fifteenth, a few seconds outside the top ten.