Sebastian Asch (BWT Mücke Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), race winner: “I got off to an explosive start. Clearly, I also benefited from the mistakes made by the drivers ahead of me. The pace and the restarts were superb. The team gave us a great car, and Lucas Auer drove a perfect stint. I am absolutely delighted. We’ve also made a big step forward in the championship and moved up by several positions. Even though Jules Gounon has built up a big lead, we aim to stay in touch. Who knows what might happen next?”
Lucas Auer (BWT Mücke Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), race winner: “Unbelievable. This is only my second weekend in the ADAC GT Masters, and here we are on the top rung of the podium. Congratulations to Mercedes-AMG and to BWT Mücke Motorsport on this win. I am very happy. Sebastian drove fantastically well. He had a great start and two magnificent restarts. The car was very easy to drive. Even on my first lap, I clocked a time of 1:29.1 minutes, which shows how much confidence I have in the car. I had a lot of fun in the race.”
Mathieu Jaminet (KÜS Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P2 overall: “We performed well in this race. The start was a bit difficult. I wasn’t able to warm up the front tyres, which meant I couldn’t brake late enough on the first corner, and I lost a couple of places as a result. When the tyres developed some grip, I was able to regain one position and follow the cars in front without putting too much strain on the tyres. The top group all pitted simultaneously, so we knew we had to take a bit of a risk. We were then four tenths above the limit, so it was perfect strategy from the team. I would like to thank everyone. It’s great to be back on the podium; we’ve had some hard times in between. A podium and fourth place in the championship – that feels good.”
Michael Ammermüller (KÜS Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P2 overall: “It’s been a long time since we stood on the podium in the ADAC GT Masters. I’m happy with this result. We were fourth going into the pit stop, which then went perfectly for us, and we emerged in second. As far as I’m concerned, there were no problems; the car was consistently good. I couldn’t quite keep up with the car ahead, but I kept my pursuers well at bay. That was the maximum today, and I’ll be quite happy if it carries on this way.”
Luca Stolz (Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P3 overall and winner in the Junior class: “At the start, I had to defend myself against the cars behind on both the inside and the outside of the track. Unfortunately, I braked too late on tyres that were still cold, and I went into a skid. That cost me two positions. Obviously, that sort of thing shouldn’t happen. We probably wouldn’t have had a chance against the eventual winner, but we could at least have been second. I am satisfied with the podium, but it’s high time we won a race.”
Luca Ludwig (Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P3 overall and winner in the Junior class: “If you start from P1, you are obviously hoping for more. But third place is just about OK. Tomorrow, we won’t have quite so much extra weight in the car, so this is a good result.”
Patric Niederhauser (Aust Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P4 overall and second in the Junior class: “That was a great race for us. We are feeling mega happy. Dennis got off to a great start and soon moved up from 13th to seventh. Our pit stop strategy worked magnificently today, and we came out on track in fourth place. I was involved in an intense battle with Albert Costa on my first three laps, but after that, I shook him off and closed the gap to second and third place.”
Dennis Marschall (Aust Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P4 overall and second in the Junior class: “I’m happy, of course. Fourth place is our best result of the season so far. It’s obviously a pity when you come so close to a podium, but it must be remembered that this is my first season in the ADAC GT Masters, and we haven’t had an easy time of it so far. At the start, I just managed to squeeze past the collision, gained some positions and found myself in seventh. Our strategy was to stay out for a long time and put in some quick laps. That worked rather well. Our pit stop was perfect. We were only 0.4 seconds above the minimum time. Patric had to defend his position initially, but then he was able to use his speed to the full and even set the fastest lap of the race.”
Jules Gounon (Callaway Competition, Corvette C7 GT3-R), P5 overall and P3 in the Junior class: “I had a good start and improved to take second place, making use of tips I had got from Daniel Keilwitz. I had a minor contact with Luca Stolz and thought for a moment that I’d damaged a tyre. We were a bit unfortunate after swapping drivers, as cars approached from behind while we were setting off. We had to wait in order to avoid an unsafe release. Still, I’m pretty satisfied. We attained the maximum today with P5.”
Albert Costa (Callaway Competition, Corvette C7 GT3-R), P5 overall and P3 in the Junior class: “I never expected to lose three positions during the pit stop. I was about to set off when my mechanic stopped me again. I obviously didn’t want to risk a penalty, as Jules is fighting for the title. I had an exciting scrap with several Audis after that. I learned more with every lap in the Corvette. My lap times were not entirely consistent at this stage, because I was experimenting with my driving so as to be totally prepared for tomorrow’s quali.”
Maximilian Götz (Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P7 overall and P4 in the Junior class: “Patrick’s start was absolutely mega. Of course, we were able to benefit a little from the jostling in front of us, but he was really well positioned going into the first corner. And after I’d taken over, I was even able to overtake an Audi and a Porsche with two superb moves. It was relatively tedious after that. There was too big a gap to the cars in front, and I had no more pressure from behind. To be honest, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the car either. We need to put our heads together to optimise the setup and really go on the attack tomorrow.”
Indy Dontje (Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P12 overall and P7 in the Junior class: “It was a solid race. Unfortunately, the rain put us off our stride in qualifying. It’s never easy starting from 18th. I was on the outside after the start and got caught up in all the confusion after a number of cars had spun on the inside. Our pace in the race was then very good. I was able to hand the car over in P14, excluding the cars that still had to come in, and Marvin gained two more positions. We can be satisfied with P12 under the circumstances.”
Rolf Ineichen (GRT Grasser-Racing-Team, Lamborghini Huracán GT3), P11 overall and winner in the Trophy class: “We moved up from 21st on the grid to P11, so ultimately we have to be satisfied with that. It was a very exciting race with plenty of scraps – including with our team-mates. However, Mirko Bortolotti and Christian did a great job and left enough space.”
Christian Engelhart (GRT Grasser-Racing-Team, Lamborghini Huracán GT3), P11 overall and winner in the Trophy class: “It’s a pity that it wasn’t quite enough for points. Still, we went on a good charge. Rolf put in a super stint and left a couple of cars trailing. He was in a great position when he pitted, but we were unable to make any progress in the second half of the race. I was able to overtake another car but had a close-fought scrap with Mirko Bortolotti, who was in a huge group of drivers on the attack. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Top Ten.”
Christopher Friedrich (KÜS Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P18 overall: “It was a good race, actually. The speed was OK, but we were stuck behind a Nissan for quite a time, and overtaking is not easy here. I managed to jump him in the end. The result is reasonably OK. Congratulations to the guys in car 17 on their second place.”