The penultimate round of the 2026 ADAC GT4 Germany season at the iconic Sachsenring delivered a weekend of high drama for Lachlan Robinson and co-driver Denny Berndt \u2014 but when the dust settled, the AVIA W&S Motorsport duo retained their lead at the top of the championship standings heading into the Hockenheim finale.<\/p>\n
Saturday morning\u2019s back-to-back qualifying sessions underlined the sheer pace of the #31 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4. In the first session, Lachlan fired in a lap just 0.167 seconds off Gabriele Piana\u2019s pole-setting 1:25.737, securing fourth on the grid for Race 1. In the second qualifying \u2014 which determined the Race 2 grid \u2014 Denny stepped up to deliver an outstanding lap of 1:25.911, good enough for pole position. Team-mate Hendrik Still kept the AVIA W&S front row all-Porsche with second place just 0.059 seconds behind. The entire top three in Q2 were covered by just 0.080 seconds, a sign of how tight the field was at the Sachsenring.<\/p>\n
The Saturday afternoon race provided all the entertainment the packed Sachsenring grandstands could have hoped for. Piana converted his pole into an early lead, and while Lachlan started from P4 and found himself in the thick of a battle for position in the opening laps \u2014 dropping to sixth as the racing was intense around him \u2014 he kept his head, managed his tyres carefully and handed over the Porsche in excellent condition at the mandatory pit stop window.<\/p>\n
Denny, who took over for the second stint, did exactly what he had planned. Hunting down Philip Wiskirchen in the final stages, Berndt powered through to claim third place at the flag, and with it, the final step on the Sachsenring podium. Victory went to Gabriele Piana and Benjamin Sylvestersson (FK Performance Motorsport, BMW M4 GT4), with Jan Philipp Springob and Philipp Gogollok (COSY Racing by ESM, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4) taking second.<\/p>\n
The result compressed the championship standings dramatically \u2014 Robinson and Berndt remained at the top, but with the three leading duos now separated by just five points.<\/p>\n
Lachlan reflected on his stint: \u201cMy stint wasn\u2019t ideal \u2014 a lot of the competitors around me were a bit overexcited. So the job was to come through it cleanly, and I managed to do that. I also looked after the tyres so that Denny could push flat out in the second half. He drove a fantastic final stint and made sure we got the podium.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Denny added: \u201cThe podium is a great result. Lachlan handed me the Porsche in really good shape. I was able to execute exactly what we had planned before the race. AVIA W&S Motorsport gave us a perfect package again today \u2014 we\u2019re very happy to still be leading the table.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n With Denny starting Race 2 from pole position, the stage was set for the team to push for a race win on Sunday. But it was not to be. A manhole cover at the exit of the Omega left-hand curve had been damaged during the preceding DTM race, rendering the track unsafe. The ADAC and circuit officials waited over 90 minutes hoping that repairs could be completed, but persistent rain made the work impossible and the decision was made to cancel Race 2 entirely.<\/p>\n It was a frustrating conclusion to a weekend that had shown real promise, but the championship picture remained clear: Robinson and Berndt head to the Hockenheimring finale (9\u201311 October 2026) with the overall lead, knowing that a strong final round can deliver the title. The ADAC is also reviewing the possibility of rescheduling the cancelled Sachsenring race at Hockenheim.<\/p>\n All eyes now turn to the Hockenheimring. The pressure is on \u2014 and Robinson and Berndt have shown all season that they thrive under it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lachlan Robinson and Denny Berndt claimed a podium finish and pole position at the Sachsenring, retaining the ADAC GT4 Germany championship lead ahead of the Hockenheim finale. Race 2 was cancelled due to a damaged manhole cover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRace 2 \u2014 Cancelled<\/h2>\n