Championship Race
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In front of a crowd of 26,000 spectators, the No.23 JRM Nissan GT-R of Krumm and Luhr claimed the Tourist Trophy with a thrilling victory in the Championship Race at Silverstone, less than half a second ahead of the No.7 Young Driver Aston Martin DBR9 and No.11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette.
The start of the race was quite subdued in comparison to the previous day's Qualifying Race, with no real incidents of note, although the No.20 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R, starting in fourth position, lost a number of places on the first lap after starting driver Warren Hughes ran wide on track. The Briton resumed his race in 13th place, sandwiched directly between the No.22 JRM and No.21 Sumo Power, both of whom started way back on the grid after crashing out on the opening lap of the Qualifying Race.
At the front, positions remained as they were on the starting grid, with Krumm in the No.23 Nissan GT-R locked to the rear of the first placed No.7 Aston Martin, with the No.11 Chevy Corvette close behind in third. With the top three pulling away quickly from the rest of the field, the real action was happening further back, and Richard Westbrook, in the No.22 JRM, was at the heart of it, moving up three places to ninth with some aggressive driving.
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Unfortunately, Westbrook's efforts were to be for nothing as moments later, whilst battling for eighth, contact with the No.8 Aston Martin of Stefan Mücke brought both cars' races to a premature end. That incident brought the safety car out, and, with the pit window opening moments later, all the cars on the grid pitted together.
Happily for Nissan, the tables were turned from the Qualifying Race, and this time the No.23 Nissan GT-R was able to emerge in front of the No.7 Aston Martin DBR9 in first after a brilliantly fast tire change and driver change-over. The two Sumo Power GT cars also enjoyed excellent stops, making up several places to emerge from the pit-lane in sixth (No.20) and seventh (No.21).
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When the safety car withdrew, the No.7 Aston Martin driven by Alex Müller instantly overtook the No.23 JRM car, only for Luhr, fresh in behind the wheel, to claim back his lead later on the same lap. However, that was nothing compared to the huge collision that occurred on the middle of the track a few seconds later, which wiped out five middle order cars. Brabham in the No.21 car became beached in the gravel and retired, while Bernoldi in the No.20 Nissan GT-R was knocked into a spin and resumed the race in ninth position.
The intense action wasn't finished there however, and in fact continued right up until the final lap, when the Müller in the No.7 Young Driver Aston Martin managed to take the lead from the Luhr in the No.23 JRM, only for Luhr to wrestle it back with a brilliant manoeuvre that actually saw both cars come into contact. The German was able to see out the final few seconds of the race to secure a memorable victory.
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With Hezemans and Zuber in the No. 11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette finishing third, the podium was complete. Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione finished fourth for No.3 Hexis Aston Martin, ahead of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the No.38 All-Inkl.com Lamborghini Murcielago. Bas Leinders and Marc Hennerici finished in sixth as the top Ford in the No.40 Marc VDS Ford GT, ahead of Bernoldi in the No.20 Sumo Power GT-R who had meanwhile managed to make up a couple of places in the final few laps.
Speaking afterwards, a jubilant Michael Krumm said: "That was just amazing! Lucas and I can both be very proud to win the race and with it join the list famous and historic names on the beautiful RAC Tourist Trophy. I felt very jealous last year when Jamie Campbell-Walter won it in the Sumo Power, so it's a wonderful feeling. The trophy has great significance, and, as such, this is one of the most important victories in my career. I tried to get a start similar to Lucas yesterday when he took the lead, but I didn't quite manage to overtake the Aston on the outside of turn one, so I slotted in behind and I was pleased we got away without accidents. The target then was to stay really close to Tomas (Enge) before we pitted and try to jump them in the pitlane. It was a bit frustrating that the distance we had to the rest of the field was nullified when the Safety Car came out, but in the end our mechanics did an amazing job to get us out first. I'm delighted!"
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Krumm's team-mate Lucas Luhr was equally delighted, saying: "I can't remember screaming so loud and for so long after I had crossed the line! Our pit stop was perfect and I must really thank the guys for that. I also have to thank JRM and Nissan for giving me such a good car, which allowed me to have such a great race with Alex (Müller)."
Team Principal James Rumsey admitted that the incident between Richard Westbrook in the No.22 Nissan GT-R and Stefan Mucke in the No.8 Young Driver Aston Martin had tainted the weekend slightly, but was still thrilled to have claimed the Tourist Trophy for a second year running: "It's fantastic to score a home win - especially as it's the Tourist Trophy meeting," Rumsey explained. "I'm very proud to have won it for the second year running as Team Principal. It is a testament to all the team's efforts and to the fantastic drive by Michael and Lucas."