Advertising star: Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (24, SWE, Audi Sport racing academy) has a starring role in a commercial made by Audi Sweden, which has now gone viral. It shows her pulling off a spectacular parking manoeuvre in an Audi R8 V10 plus. You can see the video at www.audi.se/se/web/sv/upplev/backseat-driver.html. Last weekend, Åhlin-Kottulinsky visited the Schleizer Dreieck circuit, which had its glory days in the old East Germany, for the Freddy Kottulinsky Revival named after her grandfather who died in 2010. The Audi driver put in several demo laps in the R8 LMS she uses in the Super Sports Car League.
Talisman: The injured Corvette driver Daniel Keilwitz (27, DEU) called in on his team, Callaway Competition, this weekend to provide Jules Gounon (22, FRA) with moral support in his title challenge. And it worked: on Saturday, the Frenchman partnered by stand-in driver Renger van der Zande (31, NL) claimed a second win of the season. Gounon thus extended his championship lead and had the added bonus of taking the unofficial ‘half-time champion’ title.
Milestone weekend: Audi driver Kelvin van der Linde (21, ZA, Aust Motorsport) is contesting his 50th race in the ADAC GT Masters on Sunday. The South African made his Super Sports Car League debut in the in 2014 season partnered by the current DTM championship leader René Rast (30, GER) and won the title at the very first attempt.
Clip clop: The footwear of the four members of the Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport squad has been turning a few heads in the paddock at Zandvoort. Local fan favourite Indy Dontje (24, NL) has fitted his team-mates out with clogs. The traditional Dutch wooden shoes have been given a special look for the race weekend, showing starting numbers and sponsor names. “I wanted to do something special for my home race,” said Dontje, who also wore the clogs when he and co-driver Marvin Kirchhöfer (23, DEU) made their podium appearance on Saturday after registering a maiden ADAC GT Masters Top Three finish.
From four wheels to two: Ahead of the Zandvoort weekend, ADAC GT Masters championship leader Jules Gounon went for a bike ride on the route of the Tour de France. The cycling enthusiast together with his coach Didier André climbed the legendary Mont Ventoux, which is a regular stage of the world’s most famous bike race. The ride to the summit is approximately 20 kilometres, but it rises 1,600 metres with an average gradient of 7.6%.