Mixed emotions ahead of the ADAC GT Masters guest appearance in Austria. Defending champion Dino Lunardi and sportscar shooting star Maxime Martin lead the team and driver championship. However, having won the most recent round at the Nürburgring the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 carries 50kg success penalty, meaning good positions at the two races will be a difficult feat.

ALPINA scored a podium finish at the Red Bull Ring in 2011, showing that the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 feels comfortable in the Alps. Being the fastest track in the ADAC GT Masters calendar is beneficial to ALPINA because of the car's outstanding aerodynamics. But having to accelerate and decelerate an additional 50kg on a track with many elevation changes will undoubtedly have a significant adverse effect.

"Last year it went well for us at the Red Bull Ring, but this time we have a lot of weight in the car," says Dino Lunardi. "Considering this, it will be a very difficult weekend for us and we will certainly need some luck to stay in the championship lead."

"I am hoping for rain," said Maxime Martin. "If we will have a wet track, the success ballast is not as bad as in dry conditions and then we will have a realistic chance for a good result. A critical point will be the brakes, as the track is very demanding on the brakes. Especially with the success ballast, we have to be very careful with the brakes in both races."

"When it rains, everything is possible. If it is dry, we will face a difficult weekend" says ALPINA's Andreas Bovensiepen ahead of the weekend in Austria. "We already predicted before the most recent round at the Nürburgring, that it will be a hard weekend and eventually we won. But at the Nürburgring, the weather helped us. A success ballast of 50kg in this highly competitive championship with more then 40 cars is a great burden. We made this experience already last season at the Nürburgring, where we had an equal heavy car and experienced our most difficult weekend of the 2011 season. We hope to collect some points at the Red Bull Ring and reduce our success ballast."

A second BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 will be entered at the Red Bull Ring by the ALPINA customer team LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler with Florian Spengler and Johannes Leidinger driving.

The two races from the Red Bull Ring are broadcasted live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by kabel eins Saturday and Sunday at 12:15 hours. The pan-European motorsport channel Motors TV will show both rounds of the ADAC GT Masters from the Red Bull Ring on a delayed base on August 15th at 21:00 hours with several repetitions the following days.

Source: Team