Christian Engelhart (#36 GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), winner: "This win is like a dream. That's the way to start a season. My start was great. I was able to pull out a small lead by the time the pit stop came round. Our pit stop was perfect, enabling us to benefit from minor mistakes made by those in pursuit, and we extended our lead. Klaus then drove a great race to the end."
Klaus Bachler (#36 GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R), winner: "My first ADAC GT Masters race could hardly have gone better. I'm extremely happy with Christian's performance at the start. We did a perfect job, fought hard and didn't give up. Now we need to take as many points as possible from the second race on Sunday."
Luca Ludwig (#21 Team Zakspeed, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), second: "I was glad when the race was over, and I can't say that I'm too pleased despite finishing second. Towards the end of the race, I had to fight a lot with the car. My radio wasn't working, which meant our pit stop was not quite optimal. Now we have to make sure that we have another Top Four finish tomorrow; then things will start to look up again."
Sebastian Asch (#21 Team Zakspeed-Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), second: "My start was good, even though I say it myself. In fact, the start was the key to our podium, because overtaking isn't easy at Oschersleben. Unfortunately, we lost time on the pit stop, and we need to get a grip on that for the second race. Luca defended really well in the second half of the race. I think that the two of us are a good combination this year."
Hari Proczyk (#42 HP Racing, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), third: "Wow, I never thought that we would finish on the podium in our first outing. When I came here, I was just hoping that we wouldn't embarrass ourselves this weekend. But so far, everything has gone perfectly here. I'm lost for words. My start was perfect, Andreas was good and the pit stop was first class. I have no cause for complaint, and anyone who knows me well can tell you that's quite unusual."
Andreas Simonsen (#42 HP Racing, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), third: "I had the feeling in the final stages that I was faster than Luca in front of me, but I didn't want to go at him too hard. My plan was to attack in the last five minutes, but then the safety car came out. Our car was brilliant throughout the entire race. Getting onto the podium in your first race with a new team is not at all bad."
Marc Gassner (#23 MRS GT-Racing, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3), winner in Gentlemen class: "That was my first GT3 race, and I was driving the first stint. At the start, there was an Audi ahead going in the wrong direction, but fortunately I managed to steer clear of the incident. Then I tried to drive at a steady pace. Just before the driver changeover, I had a minor bump with an Audi. P9 and a class win in the first race is very satisfactory from my point of view."
Florian Strauss (#23 MRS GT-Racing, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3), P9: "Marc drove a great stint, absolutely terrific for his first race. I then tried to make good a few places, but overtaking is not easy here. Top Ten was our objective, and we're very pleased with our result."
Dominic Jöst (#22 MR GT-Racing, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3), runner-up in Gentlemen class: "After the start, I had to dodge a BMW, which cost me several positions and dropped me down the field. Then I had a scrap with Rahel Frey, but I managed to come out on top and put some distance between the two of us. That was also when I set the fastest lap. Unfortunately, we were a little too fast in the pit lane and we were hit with a drive-through penalty. Well, basically that ruined our race."
Florian Scholze (#22 MR GT-Racing-Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3), runner-up in Gentlemen class: "Apart from the drive-through penalty, it was a good race and lots of fun. We were competitive and the Nissan drives well - much easier than the Porsche last year."
Jakub Knoll (#12 Senkyr Motorsport, BMW Z4 GT3), P3 in Gentlemen class: "It was very difficult, because after problems in free practice, I had to wait for the race itself before doing my first lap on this circuit. So for me, it wasn't really about the result but about learning and also about getting the car back to the garage in one piece."
Lennart Marioneck (#12 Senkyr Motorsport, BMW Z4 GT3), P14: "Those first metres in the race were also my first in the BMW. It's massively different from the Corvette that I used to drive. Anyway, we survived the race without any problems, which was the most important thing today."
Daniel Keilwitz (#66 Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), P4: "The race was fun, and I had a great battle with BMW for fourth place. Victory wasn't possible today, and fourth place was always going to be the maximum for us, but that was a good start to the season, so I'm satisfied for now."
Jens Klingmann (#80 BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, BMW Z4 GT3), P5: "We had more speed towards the end of the race, but we got stuck in some traffic. But ultimately, the others were faster than us. We need to work on making the tyres go the full distance. Today, we had problems with traction, so before tomorrow's race, we have some homework to do."