ADAC GT Masters·7.6.2014

Comments after the race: What the ADAC GT Masters contestants had to say for themselves after Race 1

Daniel Keilwitz (#1 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), winner: "Unlike the pursuing group, we came into the pits quite late and had a clear track ahead of us after the driver changeover while our competitors were emerging into traffic. That enabled me to build up a comfortable lead. But in some ways, it made for a more difficult race than when you're having to fight for position, because you're more inclined to be careless, and that's when mistakes start to creep in."

Oliver Gavin (#1 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), winner: "The Camaro was incredibly quick today - as a Chevrolet works driver, I'm really pleased to see two Chevies out in front at the finish. I had a clean start and soon found my rhythm. Things got quite interesting, though, just before our driver changeover when I closed on a couple of backmarkers who had already swapped drivers. We knew that this circuit suited the Corvette, and I'm pleased that Daniel and I have achieved such a good result for Callaway."

Albert von Thurn und Taxis (#24 Reiter Engineering, Chevrolet Camaro GT), P2: "What an incredible result! Everything went totally right. Our Camaro was perfect, and the car is just great after all the development work we've put into it. I hit the throttle hard right at the start and had the good fortune to take P2. I eased off a bit before the driver changeover. I was feeling quite on edge, not wanting to make any mistakes, as it's a long time since I've been up at the front in an ADAC GT Masters race."

Tomas Enge (#24 Reiter Engineering, Chevrolet Camaro GT), P2: "Albert was simply on top form today. He kept clocking up consistently fast lap times for the whole of his stint and didn't make even the tiniest of errors. Our pit stop took a bit longer than the others - we were playing it safe. But I quickly managed to reclaim the positions we had lost on the pit stop. A fantastic result. Last year - and even at the start of this season - nobody would have thought that we could be competitive in this car. But in fact, our car has been very good right from the start of the current campaign - it's just that we have been out of luck so far. We plan to repeat this result again tomorrow, although ideally we'd prefer to be competing for the race win."

Maximilian Buhk (#26 HTP Motorsport, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), P3: "When I exited the pit lane, I didn't know where my opponents were, so I thought I had to make good some positions, but I suppose I overdid it. I had to change down in the pit lane and lost some momentum, which allowed the Camaro to go by. After that, there was nothing I could do against the Corvette plus the Camaro. Because this year, the Camaro is not only good at climbing but also at cornering."

Maximilian Götz (#26 HTP Motorsport, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), P3: "My target at the start was to get past the Lamborghini, which worked out well. It was clear to us that we weren't going to overtake the Corvette or the Camaro on the straights, so our objective was to hold on to third. The race went exactly as we had planned, and we're well satisfied with third place."

Toni Seiler (#18 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), winner in Gentlemen class: "At the start of the race, I got stuck behind the McLaren and just couldn't get past. As soon as I overtook it, I was lapping a full second faster. As the race progressed, the brakes got slacker and the pedal was travelling much further, but I was able to adjust to that OK. Then, Jeroen drove a terrific stint. I just feel sorry for Remo Lips losing out on the win on the final lap, because he drove a super race."

Jeroen Bleekemolen (#18 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), P15: "I had a lot of fun and overtook a lot of other cars; the pace of our Corvette was also good. I was annoyed with myself for only qualifying in fourth position for the second race, because I feel I should have been able to book a place on the front row here. But today's race went really well. In the end, though, we had a stroke of luck when our team-mate ran out of fuel."

Remo Lips (#17 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), P2 in Gentlemen class: "It's very disappointing to miss out on victory on the final lap, because I had been so pleased that we had finally got the better of Herbert Handlos. We were running in twelfth place, which would have been a super result, but we ended up crossing the line in 16th. Tomorrow, we're starting from P11, so I'm really hoping that we're going to get our first class win at last."

Norbert Siedler (#8 TONINO Team Herberth, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P6: "I had a completely clean race without any incidents worth mentioning. Sixth position was always the maximum we were going to get today. There is simply no prospect of us finishing any higher here."

Alon Day (#21 BKK MOBIL OIL Zakspeed, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG), P7: "Our race was neither good, nor was it particularly poor. Luca came into contact with a Porsche in the starting phase which caused some damage to the front of our car. We didn't have a very good qualifying session yesterday, which sort of messed up our weekend."

Christian Engelhart (#3 GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P9: "A Mercedes rear-ended me at the start, which cost me several places. That wasn't an easy race, and there was no way we were going to do any better than ninth. Anyway, I'm hoping for better things tomorrow."

Gerhard Tweraser (#32 Grasser Racing, Lamborghini Gallardo FL2), P4: "We had good pace today, the car was really fast in the race, and I posted the second-fastest lap. Unfortunately, the Camaro obstructed us as we were entering the pit lane for the mandatory stop, and that cost us three positions. After that, we weren't able to catch the Mercedes any more."