Home win, first podium and prove of talent

Ingo Gerstl remains king of the BOSS GP and dominates the home race in Spielberg. Furthermore: Bianca Steiner is on the podium for the first time, sports car professional Reini Kofler with a sensational debut and Florian Schnitzenbaumer continues to lead the standings.

The first race took place on Saturday in the dry: Ingo Gerstl (Top Speed) slowed down the first laps like at Hockenheim, Phil Stratford in the Benetton B197 followed the Austrian until lap 10, then Gerstl revved up and showed with 1:13.4 min what is possible with used tyres and not completely empty tank. But his highlight was the qualifying, with 1:10.665 min he completed the Red Bull Rign as fast as never before. Only once a year the Ring is cycled even faster, at the Formula 1 in July.

In the FORMULA class Florian Schnitzenbaumer finished second behind winner Johann Ledermair. Before the race, electronic issues still occupied the Top Speed crew. Schnitzenbaumer had to use the control unit of his team mate. Guest entrant Reini Kofler was therefore only able to compete in the second race. KTM works GT rider Kofler was hired by Top Speed at short notice. Right at his first few metres in a GP2, he drove fast lap times – the whole weekend he ranked among the leaders. After he could not compete in the first race, he finished second behind Ledermair in Race 2 in the wet.

Bianca Steiner clinched her first podium in the first race, following her good results at Hockenheim. For many laps she duelled with Peter Göllner and finally Steiner prevailed. Thomas Jakoubek also made good progress in his first BOSS GP race – he finished seventh.

The second race of the weekend started behind the Pirelli Safety-Car. When the track was cleared, Ledermair took full risk to keep up with Gerstl. The fact that Gerstl also drove the Toro Rosso in the rain was a thank you to the fans. After a few laps the lead grew to a relaxed size of 2.5 to 3 seconds for Gerstl. At the finish line, OPEN winner Ingo Gerstl and FORMULA winner Johann Ledermair separated by 2.8 seconds. Schnitzenbaumer continues to lead the BOSS GP standings with fourth place.

The BOSS GP team moves on to Italy. The next race weekend is from 29 June to 1 July at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Pictures: Michael Jurtin/BOSS GP