With an impressive drive in the two ADAC GT4 Germany races at Nürburgring, Gabriela Jílková and Robert Haub are back in the game: the Czech/American duo gained 24 positions over the two races and secured two Top10 finishes.
The summer break is over and the ADAC GT4 Germany series is back on track in one of its most iconic circuits - the Nürburgring - with a record number of 31 cars from six brands to tackle the second half of the season and battle out for the championship's crown. Drago Racing Team ZVO's drivers Gabriela Jílková and Robert Haub made their return to the German series one week after their great second race in Spa-Francorchamps in the GT4 European series, and targeted a podium for the first time this season after finishing fourth at the previous event in Zandvoort. Both showed great potential in the first two free practice sessions, proving their pace with a P10 in FP1 and a P3 in FP2. Unfortunately, Robert Haub was caught speeding under FCY and received a five place grid drop for race 1. The first qualifying session on Saturday was contested by Robert Haub, who set the early pace before times started to drop fast. He was holding on the top spot for quite some time, but the track improved significantly towards the end and he ultimately finished P14 for race 1. Due to the penalty from free practice, he would start P19 - but the American and Gabriela Jílková were ready to put up a fight. It was a rather messy start into the first race of the weekend, with Marcel Lenerz starting from pole but with plenty of drama in the midfield: Phil Dörr was involved in a multi car accident with several cars retiring - but with no safety car intervention. In the lead, Lenerz pulled away from the rest of the pack with an over 9 second gap when the pit window opened. After the change from Lenerz to Piro he just needed to manage the gap to the win. Behind him, the battle for the last two podium spots was a bit more exciting: Marcel Marchewicz (Schnitzelalm Racing) was hunting down the top three after the driver change and passed Robin Falkenbach (Drago Racing Team ZVO), then challenging Finn Zulauf (AVIA W&S Motorsport). The latter tried everything to stay ahead, but on the penultimate lap, Marchewicz made his move to finish on the podium ahead of Zulauf. Robert Haub started from P19 and successfully avoided the first lap chaos, making up several positions. He had a strong first stint, made his way up to P11 and pitted once the pit window was open to hand over to Gabriela Jílková. She was back out in 10th place and resumed their run forward fighting hard in the second stint, finishing eighth after an impressive race from the Czech/American driver pairing, who gained 11 positions. On Sunday morning, the second qualifying saw Gabriela Jílková taking the wheel of the #4 Drago Racing Mercedes AMG GT4; she was the first driver to set a timed lap, but dropped down the order at the end of the session when some of the other teams found some more speed. "Quick Gabi" would line up in 20th place for the last race of the weekend at Nürburgring. The start of race 2 was a cleaner one and, while Dontje led the field ahead of Still and Piro, Gabriela Jílková had a great getaway and made her way up to P14, while still battling in a big group of cars that frequently exchanged positions. Her teammate Falkenbach got a push from another car and retired from the race after ending in the gravel trap; the race slowed down due a full course yellow. Dontje led the race into the restart, ahead of Still and Marchewicz. Piro made his move to third right after the green flag, while Gabriela Jílková had to endure some pressure but retained 14th. Dontje pulled away while behind him, cars battled all the way through the field. When the pit window opened, Gabriela Jílková was P12 and stayed out a few more laps before she handed over her car to Robert Haub, from P5. After everyone had completed their pit stop with driver change, Haub found himself in eighth place. He had no easy task to defend his position against Ben Dörr and initially dropped to ninth. With six minutes to go, another full course yellow was deployed when Krohnberg slowed down, stopped and then continued to roll trackside. Böckmann made the pass for the win right at the green flag, after he caught Phil Dörr napping. Robert Haub had a good restart as well, challenged Mayer for P7 and passed him with a nice move around the outside. Böckmann took victory ahead of Phil Dörr and Lenerz; Robert Haub and Gabriela Jílková finished again in the Top10 bringing home an impressive seventh place and a good amount of points for the championship. They gained 13 places from their starting positions - for a total of 24 positions gained over the course of the two races. The next race event will take place at Sachsenring from 23rd to 25th September, as the ADAC GT4 Germany will not be part of the next ADAC weekend at Lausitzring.
You can follow Gabriela and Robert's journey in GT racing also on their official YouTube channel - TwoToWin - which will take you behind the scenes of their season.
