Zolder heatwave turns championship upside down: Liebenberg leads
Zolder heatwave turns championship upside down: Liebenberg leads
To compensate for the cancelled Hockenheim season opener, Zolder hosted three separate qualifying sessions and three standalone races across a single weekend for the first time, a physical and mental endurance test for a strong 20-car field. Arriving perfectly timed for the season's halfway point, the intensive weekend produced a dramatic change of guard at the top of the standings.
Race 1: Wieninger triumphs after turbulent start
Luca Wieninger (Max Kruse Racing) made an immediate statement in the first qualifying session, posting a dominant benchmark lap to claim pole position. The opening race then unfolded in high drama: in the tight traffic of the first corner, Cedric Piro retired following a collision that brought out the safety car. Still under yellow flags, second-placed Franco Fahrbach received a costly five-second penalty for an incorrect grid position.
At the restart, Wieninger broke clear and, despite intense pressure from Leon Arndt (FAR Performance), took a fully deserved lights-to-flag victory. Fahrbach's penalty promoted South African Bradley Liebenberg to third on the podium. Championship leader Julian Konrad, after an inconsistent qualifying, salvaged sixth place and limited the damage.
Race 2: Liebenberg wins gripping battle decided by less than half a second
In the second qualifying session, Franco Fahrbach hit back with pole position, only to lose the lead at the very start to Bradley Liebenberg, who committed fully at Turn 1. The two were inseparable throughout, with the experienced South African eventually edging it by the narrowest of margins, 0.455 seconds ahead of Fahrbach. Max Kruse Racing driver Luca Wieninger completed the podium in third, successfully holding off a charging Leon Arndt despite contact with a tyre stack that left his car with damaged bodywork.
The championship picture was turned completely on its head in this race: leader Julian Konrad retired as early as lap one following a driving error, while Mike Müller dropped hopelessly back with a puncture. Tyler Robinson, briefly running as the leading woman in seventh, was stopped by a mechanical failure. Sophie Hofmann was the top female finisher in tenth.
Race 3: Start drama and furious recovery drives in the finale
Bradley Liebenberg underlined his top form by claiming pole position for the finale. Behind him, tension ran high: Julian Konrad had been involved in lengthy accident repairs and could only enter qualifying late, forced to start from the back alongside the unlucky Tyler Robinson.
Immediately after the start, team-internal drama unfolded at Max Kruse Racing as Wieninger and Fahrbach made contact in the first corner, sending Wieninger tumbling down the field. Liebenberg exploited the clear track ahead to take an untroubled lights-to-flag victory ahead of a consistently strong Leon Arndt and Franco Fahrbach.
The sensation of the race, however, came from Julian Konrad: starting from 18th, the driver from Sinzig charged his way up to sixth with perfect tyre management, keeping his title ambitions firmly alive. Luca Wieninger also produced an impressive recovery drive, fighting his way up to seventh on the final lap. Sophie Hofmann was the top female finisher in 16th.
Franco Fahrbach (3rd place):
"The start was turbulent and the contact in Turn 1 with Luca was anything but ideal. Fortunately, I was able to recover the situation and hold third. After that it was an extremely tough race against Mike Müller, who pushed relentlessly from behind. Defending third in that heat was genuinely gruelling, but I'm happy with the podium."
High-calibre guest entrants enhance the field
A further highlight of the Zolder weekend was the participation of prominent guest entrants from the Benelux region. Their appearances offered an exclusive first glimpse of the planned cooperation with the new Polo Cup Benelux, set to launch in 2027. Laurents de Wit demonstrated strong driving skills throughout, finishing consistently inside the top ten in all three races, eighth, sixth and tenth. Fabian Schonhooven, competing for the renowned Molkenboer Autosport team, also impressed with a standout performance.
In the first race he worked his way up to ninth with precise overtaking moves. After retiring from the second race due to secondary damage from an off-track excursion, he returned strongly in the finale to repeat that result with another ninth place.
Molkenboer Autosport, normally active in international series including TCR and GT4, is one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the new Benelux series. Although both guest entrants received no championship points under the regulations, they raised the competitive level of the field significantly.
Drama guaranteed at the halfway point
The Zolder weekend has delivered a dramatic change of guard right at the season's midpoint. With two wins and a third place, Bradley Liebenberg (313 points) crowns himself the new halfway champion. The South African now leads the standings ahead of Max Kruse Racing duo Franco Fahrbach (286 points) and Luca Wieninger (278 points).
Leon Arndt lurks in fourth on 273 points, while former championship dominator Julian Konrad (265 points) drops to fifth after a difficult weekend, though his spectacular damage-limitation drive in the finale keeps him firmly in title contention.
After the summer break, the action resumes at the Lausitzring in eastern Germany from 25 to 27 September, where the second triple-event of the season is scheduled.
*Information provided by the publicist.
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