Jules Gounon (Callaway Competition, Corvette C7 GT3-R): “I am very satisfied. So far, it’s been a perfect weekend. The only downside is that Daniel unfortunately can’t be here for it. Being ‘half-time champion’ doesn’t actually mean a lot. What matters is being ahead right at the end. Until then, we’ll take each race as it comes. It wasn’t easy today. The Mercedes-AMG with Luca Stolz put us under a lot of pressure and ultimately set the fastest race lap when Luca Ludwig took over. We may not have been the quickest out there today, but we at least managed to keep the others behind us.”
Renger van der Zande (Callaway Competition, Corvette C7 GT3-R): “I am very happy to have won here in my home race. I even slept at home in my own bed. I was asked by the team if I could step in for Daniel Keilwitz and help Jules in his title challenge. I did not hesitate to accept, but it’s a pity Daniel can’t be here. Up to the safety car deployment, I had controlled the race, but after that it was really tight again. The tyre pressure went down behind the safety car and I was picking up a lot of marbles. Consequently, I had to brake a lot earlier, and at times I was worried that I’d sustained a puncture. However, I finally figured out what I had to do to get grip back in the tyre.”
Kelvin van der Linde (Aust Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P2 overall: “That was a great race. It's terrific that three different manufacturers finished on the podium. Maybe even more might have been possible, because I think we had the fastest car, but it's just too difficult to overtake here.”
Markus Pommer (Aust Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P2 overall: “I'm more than satisfied with my maiden podium. It's been long overdue. We've been close a couple of times, at the season opener in Oschersleben, for example. Everything worked out fine today. We were both really quick. I'm really very pleased, even though I think now, looking back, that maybe a win might even have been possible, but there's still quite a lot of the season left. We're really hoping for rain on Sunday, because Kelvin is incredibly fast under such conditions. The 20 kilos of extra weight wouldn't matter too much then.”
Indy Dontje (Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P3 overall and P2 in the Junior category: “That was a terrific race. We started from P6 on the grid, so I didn't really expect our race to go so well. I gained a place at the start by going around on the outside, and then we had a good pit stop while lying in fourth place. We were third overall after the Lamborghini retired and second in the junior standings. I can be very satisfied with that.”
Marvin Kirchhöfer (Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P3 and P2 Junior category: “That was a very interesting race. We had hoped to secure a podium but knew that it wouldn't be easy, because overtaking is difficult here. It's really great to finally finish on the podium. We've had to wait too long for it. Indy did a fantastic job at the start. He kept himself out of trouble and even managed to gain a couple of positions. Our speed was good after that. I hope we can build on our good showing tomorrow.”
Luca Stolz (Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P5 overall and P3 Junior category): “This result is more than annoying. Our performance in the race was perfect. I got a good start and overtook Markus Pommer for second place. However, we probably wouldn't have had a chance of winning, as the Corvette didn't put a foot wrong. We'd hoped to be able to attack again, as the Mercedes-AMG is very easy on the tyres, so it's extremely frustrating that our pit stop was 0.3 seconds too fast. We shan't be making that mistake again. It's just too bad.”
Luca Ludwig (Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P5 and P3 Junior category: “We must make sure that never happens again. Losing a race in this way is a very, very bitter pill to swallow. It should never happen. We were really quick. We've at least limited the damage with fifth place.”
Rolf Ineichen (GRT Grasser-Racing-Team, Lamborghini Huracán GT3), P5 and Winner of the Trophy class: “I got away to a good start. I had expected a few incidents in the first turn, but not much happened. There were just a couple of crashes on the back straight, but I was able to avoid them. After that, I concentrated mainly on nursing the left rear tyre, as it's put under a lot of stress at this track. It's a pity that our sister car lost second place with 15 minutes to go because of a tyre problem.”
Christian Engelhart (GRT Grasser-Racing-Team, Lamborghini Huracán GT3), P7 overall and Winner of the Trophy category: “The team's strategy to let Rolf stay out longer worked really well. We then had a good pit stop and overtook several cars in one go. I then had a clear run, but the gap was too big. However, I was able to catch up again thanks to the safety car coming out but was unable to attack in the end, because the vibrations were too strong.”
Mathieu Jaminet (KÜS Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P8 overall: “P8 from 16th on the grid – I think we can be more than satisfied with the result. I had a good start, was able to stay in contact with the group in front of me, and our car ran just great. We then had a good pit stop, and Michi concluded the race without any problems. The whole team did a superb job. What's important is that we scored points, so we're mega happy.”
Michael Ammermüller (KÜS Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P8 overall: “We fought pretty hard all weekend to find a decent setup, even in qualifying. Our setup for the race was then quite satisfactory. We were able to move forwards and hope that tomorrow will be even better.”