Christoph von Oeynhausen dominated the weekend at his home Nürburgring, sweeping both GT3 Revival Series races to bring back the glory days of the BMW Z4 GT3. Racing with Classic & Speed – the team that fielded both the former Triple Eight Racing BMW in which he won and his father Marcus’s Marc VDS Racing Z4 GT3 – the German claimed two hard-fought victories, a true battle worthy of the spirit of 2010s GT3 racing.
There was a champion crowned too: Jean-Luc Beaubelique sealed the GT3 Revival Series’ first title with a third place in race 2 with one race weekend left.
Race 1
Christoph von Oeynhausen led from pole to the chequered flag to win Saturday’s race. Driving the former #888 Triple Eight BMW Z4 GT3, the German and his Classic & Speed crew claimed their first victory of the season.
At the start, Von Oeynhausen was joined on the front row by Nick Padmore in the TFT Racing-run #1 Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 in 2012 WRT colours. The Brit lost second into turn one to a charging Heiko Neumann, whose #65 Team Motopark Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 forced its way through, with Marcus von Oeynhausen’s #45 Marc VDS Racing BMW Z4 GT3 following into third.
Padmore reclaimed third next lap. Behind Marcus von Oeynhausen, a train of cars formed. Eric Debard’s #20 Debard Automobiles By Racetivity Ford GT Matech soon passed the Z4, leading Von Oeynhausen and a flurry of Ferrari 458 GT3s, among them Horst Baumann’s #60 Schmickler Performance car and Jean-Luc Beaubelique’s #87 AKKA ASP entry. Beaubelique, sixth behind Von Oeynhausen, lunged into turn one, hit the Z4 hard and spun out at the next corner on his own leaking coolant.
At the front, Christoph von Oeynhausen came under growing pressure from Neumann and Padmore. The BMW and Mercedes-Benz made light contact without serious damage, and Von Oeynhausen held the lead into the pitstops, pulling a couple of seconds clear of the scrapping pair.
Differing minimum pitstop times reshuffled the front, with Padmore emerging ahead of Von Oeynhausen and Neumann, split by seconds.Neumann was judged to have stopped short of his minimum time and took a 12-second penalty, making the win virtually impossible. It did, however, bring a fierce fight for the lead: undeterred – and unaware of the penalty – Von Oeynhausen made a fearless move for first with 11 minutes to go.
That settled the order at the front. Von Oeynhausen’s Triple Eight BMW Z4 GT3 took the win ahead of Neumann’s Motopark Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, promoted to second after Padmore’s WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 penalty.
Álvaro Parente, who had taken over the #47 Quinntec Racing-operated 2015 WRT Audi R8 LMS Ultra GT3 from Mark Cole, recovered from an early spin to finish fourth after lapping faster than anyone else during his stint.
Race 2
Sunday brought another Christoph von Oeynhausen victory – this one even harder fought than the first, coming after an opening-lap spin.
The start saw pro drivers Jim Pla and Álvaro Parente launch side by side from the front row, the Frenchman holding on through the opening lap aboard his #87 AKKA ASP Ferrari 458 GT3, still run by ASP’s sister operation Storic and Race Cars. The two pros quickly broke clear, while behind them Neumann and Christoph von Oeynhausen – who had started fifth – battled through the Mercedes Arena, with Von Oeynhausen taking third.
Von Oeynhausen’s lightning start was soon undone by a dramatic spin after running wide at the Ford turn. The field only narrowly avoided the BMW, but Von Oeynhausen gathered it up, rejoined and set about working his way back through the order.
The pitstop window was quickly followed by a safety car to recover the spun #30 Classic & Modern Racing BMW Z4 GT3 of Pierre Hirschi, who had become stuck – then got going again – at the final corner. The caution condensed the field, with Beaubelique having taken over the lead from co-driver Pla, ahead of Mark Cole in the #47 Audi he had inherited from Parente. Padmore’s #1 Audi ran third, Eric Debard’s #20 Ford fourth and Von Oeynhausen’s #888 BMW fifth.
The restart saw Von Oeynhausen methodically pick off the cars ahead, reaching the back of Beaubelique and Padmore just as the pair began fighting for the lead. Padmore moved ahead with 5 minutes to go, and Von Oeynhausen followed him past Beaubelique, his momentum keeping him close to the new leader.
Christpher von Oeynhausen’s chance came on the final lap. As the two drag-raced down the front straight, the BMW launched a full attack going into the Mercedes Arena, unfazed by a yellow flag at the hairpin. Running side by side, Von Oeynhausen wrestled past at the Ford corner to seize the lead – right where his race had seemed to fall apart 50 minutes earlier.
With that, Christoph von Oeynhausen completed a double-winning weekend, taking the chequered flag mere tenths ahead of Nick Padmore. Jean-Luc Beaubelique just held on to third, and that podium was enough to crown the longtime GT3 racer champion of the GT3 Revival Series’ premier season and rewarding c-driver Jim Pla for a strong opening stint.
Barcelona finale
The season now heads to Barcelona for the grand finale of the GT3 Revival Series’ premier season, running alongside the GT World Challenge Europe season finale. With the title already settled, the field will contest two final races to close out the year.
