• German driver sweeps both overall victories with legendary BMW Z4
• Beaubelique survives Saturday scare to clinch Pro-Am with one event remaining
• Am Gen II fight goes to the finale after maiden wins for Neumann and Padmore
Results: Nürburgring
The GT3 Revival Series crowned its first champion during the season’s penultimate round at the Nürburgring, but another title fight has been blown wide open and will be settled by the deciding event at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The new series produced plenty of action at the German track, where it was part of a packed schedule alongside GT World Challenge powered by AWS. New race winners emerged, iconic cars came to the fore, and the second contest was not decided until the very last lap.
The event also saw the Pro-Am title settled in favour of Jean-Luc Beaubelique, though not before the Frenchman had suffered his first retirement of the season on Saturday. This gave Christoff von Oeynhausen a glimpse at the title – and the German driver gave his all to stay in the fight.
Von Oeynhausen’s #888 BMW Z4 was previously raced in the Blancpain GT Series and British GT. Now run by Classic & Speed, the car qualified on pole for Race 1 and remained out front when Saturday's 50-minute contest began.
Von Oeynhausen was under pressure during the early phase, chased by Heiko Neumann (Team Motopark) in his Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and Nick Padmore (TFT Racing). The latter was driving solo in the Audi R8 LMS Ultra owned by his regular teammate Jean-Lou Rihon. There was little to choose between this trio, with the latter pair also disputing the Am class lead.
Beaubelique, meanwhile, was running sixth overall and second in class aboard his Ferrari 458. With five wins from six races and a commanding championship lead, the Storic and Race Cars driver was on course to sew up the title.
But with 20 minutes on the clock the Frenchman tried to pass the ex-Marc VDS BMW Z4 of Marcus von Oeynhausen at Turn 1, which resulted in contact between the two cars. The impact caused significant damage to the Ferrari, which spun on its own leaking fluid a few corners later. Beaubelique was out and would need to wait another day.
Back in the race, the younger Von Oeynhausen could not shake Neumann; it was only as the pit window approached that the BMW driver began to edge away from his rivals. Von Oeynhausen appeared to be in control but, when the stops were completed, the Z4 was no longer out front: Padmore’s Audi had jumped ahead.
This proved to be short lived, as the TFT-run car had not completed its full pit stop time. It was handed a 12-second penalty, which would drop the R8 behind the Z4 at the end of the race.
But rather than wait for the chequered flag Von Oeynhausen passed the Audi at Turn 1, going on to secure his maiden GT3 Revival Series win. It was also the first – either in a class or overall – for the BMW Z4, one of the most beloved cars of the early GT3 era.
Padmore continued to run second, but when his penalty was applied the Englishman fell to third overall. This elevated Neumann to P2 and gave the SLS pilot his first Am Gen II class win. Padmore hung on to P3 overall and second in Am Gen II, while Eric Debard (Debard Automobiles By Racetivity) earned another Am Gen I victory aboard his Ford GT by placing fifth overall. This was the Matech-built machine’s seventh win from seven races.
After the disappointment of Saturday, there was another chance for Beaubelique to wrap up the Pro-Am title in Sunday's race. His co-driver Jim Pla took the start from pole and kept the Ferrari's nose ahead of Alvaro Parente in the Quinntech-run Audi R8 LMS Ultra during the early stages, slowly building a gap over his rivals.
Von Oeynhausen had a more eventful start. On the opening lap, the German took a little too much kerb on the exit of Turn 7 and the BMW looped around, leaving him in the middle of the track. He was at risk of being struck by another car but, thanks to some fast reactions from those behind, Von Oeyenhausen was able to continue without damage. However he had fallen outside the top 10 and would still need to serve extra time in the pits due to Saturday's win; a weekend sweep looked very unlikely.
At the front, Pla completed a perfect opening stint, handing over to Beaubelique with a healthy advantage. The French driver now had less than 20 minutes to go before sealing the Pro-Am title.
But there was a twist in the story. Just moments after the Ferrari made its stop, the safety car was deployed to recover Pierre Hirschi’s BMW. Having looked to be out of the running, this was just what Von Oeyenhausen needed to bring his Z4 back into contention.
When the restart was signalled there were 10 minutes to go and Beaubelique led from Mark Cole (Quinntech Audi), Padmore, Debard and then Von Oeyenhausen. The #888 BMW would need to make fast work of the cars ahead – and that's exactly that he did.
The BMW quickly took Debard’s Ford GT and then got past Cole after banging wheels with the Audi. But Padmore was another matter: the Englishman had charged to second and was pushing Beaubelique for the overall lead. Padmore made a move stick with five minutes to go and Von Oeyenhausen followed him through.
Padmore put up a great defence, but on the final lap Von Oeynhausen went side-by-side with the Audi from Turn 1 all the way to Turn 7 before finally completing a pass. Moments later, the German took the chequered flag to complete a perfect weekend on home soil.
But it was not enough to prevent Beaubelique from clinching the title with a round to spare. The Ferrari finished as Pro-Am runner-up, putting him beyond the reach of his rivals and adding another success to the Frenchman’s list of achievements.
A delighted Padmore celebrated his maiden Am Gen II win. Second in class went to Heikko Neumann, who moves to the top of the class standings ahead of the deciding round at Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya. Neumann has 120 points, putting him just ahead of Jonathan Mitchell (115.5 points) and Benjamin Ricci (111 points).
Debard slipped to 11th overall with a late problem but still collected the Am Gen I win. Either he or his teammate Philippe Giaque will be crowned champion depending on the team’s driver line-up for the finale. The inaugural GT3 Revival Series season concludes with two more races at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 3/4 October.