Kelvin van der Linde (#10 Prosperia C Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), winner: "I didn't have it easy at the start, because the Porsches were very fast. But with a bit of luck, I was able to stay ahead. At the two restarts after the safety car period, I had everything under control. This second victory of the season was a lot longer coming than we had wanted. We are very pleased to have finished ahead of our closest pursuers - this gives us a bit more breathing space at the top."

René Rast (#10 Prosperia C Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), winner: "The safety car period towards the end obviously didn't help, but I managed to re-establish a small gap for the last few laps. We had to be careful with our strategy today. We actually wanted to take our pit stop early in Race 1, but if we'd done that, the Porsche might have been able to gain time, and the situation would have become a lot tighter. Consequently, we adapted our strategy in line with that of the Porsche and pitted late."

Christian Engelhart (#3 GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R): runner-up: "Overtaking here at Sachsenring is difficult. I was faster than the Audi in the twisty first sector and put them under some pressure, but it wasn't enough to get past. I had no opportunity to overtake, but the gap was very small and our pace was very good, especially on the first few laps."

Jaap van Lagen (#3 GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R): runner-up: "It all looked very close towards the end, but I think René was having a relatively easy time at the front, as he had everything under control. I fought as hard as I could. René pulled out a small lead, after which I eased off slightly to conserve the tyres. After the final safety car period, I tried again, but René was simply faster. I'm also a little off colour and not 100% fit, so all things considered, I'm satisfied with the result."

Dominik Baumann (#19 PIXUM Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), P3: "Our tactics paid off. After taking our pit stop early, I pushed strongly on my first five or six laps, which took me up to third. The safety car period just before the end of the race was very good for us, because my right front tyre was pretty much worn out and I was unable to keep up with the two race leaders."

Claudia Hürtgen (#19 PIXUM Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), P3: "Our row on the grid didn't have the best of starts, and we got stuck behind two Porsches. I was faster, but I just couldn't get past, so we decided to make a very early pit stop. An Audi got stranded on the track and we guessed that the safety car would come out, which meant that we did everything just right. We took a big risk with our strategy, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough for a win."

Herbert Handlos (#7 TONINO Team Herberth, Porsche 911 GT3 R), winner in Gentlemen class: "The race was very good, except that the two safety car periods in the first half of the race were not much fun. The result is excellent, especially as we didn't have a good grid position. The pace was decent, but overtaking is very tricky on this track. My team-mate Dominic Jöst was in front of me, but I was able to close the gap really well. It's great that we've now made it into the Top Ten overall."

Maro Engel (#23 ROWE RACING, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), P6: "Moving up from P13 to sixth is OK. Unfortunately, I had some bad luck in qualifying when I had a contact with Albert von Thurn und Taxis, which ruined my chance of a better grid position. We're in tenth place on the grid tomorrow, so maybe then we can move a little further forwards."

Sven Barth (#13 RWT Racing Team, Corvette Z06.R GT3), P8: "I outbraked Dominik Schwager towards the end of the race and got in front. He rear-ended me in the manoeuvre and Götz slipped past. At any rate, there was no way I could fend off the Mercedes, and from then on, P8 was the maximum today."

Philip Geipel (#16 YACO Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), P5: "My start was not good, I had a déjà vu moment from 2011 on the approach to the first turn when there was contact with a Mercedes and I thought it better to hang back. I then got stuck behind a BMW and two Porsches and was faster but there was no way I could get past without using brute force. Markus subsequently brought the car home in a great position."

Andreas Wirth (#1 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), DNF: "Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding with the pits, and I came in a lap too soon. We were struggling anyway and there was nothing more to be done with the extra pit stop."

Patrick Assenheimer (#2 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), DNF: "I had a problem with the diff and had to park up."

Lennart Marioneck (#17 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), P16: " We conceded a penalty for too short a pit stop. That was very annoying, and we'll have to see what went wrong. Luckily, we still managed to finish on the podium in third place, but actually, the plan today was to steal some points from the Porsche guys."

Florian Stoll (#100 kfzteile24 APR Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS ultra), DNF: "I went a bit too far over the kerbs while exiting the penultimate turn and the artificial grass was still damp, so I became just a passenger and crashed. We'll get the car fixed up before tomorrow's race."