The Czech outfit aimed high for the closing round that marked the end of the maiden full year in ADAC GT Masters, the German series for Grand Touring cars that has been highly spectacular and uncertain until the end. Team ISR headed to the legendary circuit resolute to end the season with a strong result after the win scored at Nürburgring and a series of great performances that highlighted the competitiveness of the team and of the drivers Filip Salaquarda and Frank Stippler on the n.33 Audi R8 LMS.
Variable weather conditions on Friday did not change the goal of Team ISR's drivers that had been working in free practice to refine the setup of their Audi R8 LMS and adapt it to the features of the longest racing track of the whole season. In the very tight Q1 run on Saturday morning Salaquarda struggled to complete his best lap and posted a 1'39.788s that was the twenty-seventh overall time.
Despite such a low starting position, the Team ISR drivers confirmed their grit in race one. Salaquarda pushed hard in the first stint and recovered several positions before pitting. Stippler continued this momentum in his driving shift and the pairing eventually recovered eight places, crossing the finish line in nineteenth place.
The desire to bounce back was high in Q2 and an amazing Stippler slid in among the drivers fighting for the championship and completed his best lap in 1'43.010s, that placed the Audi R8 LMS on the sixth spot of the starting grid.
The great premise to end the season on a high was shattered at turn one, unfortunately, when the n.12 Audi R8 LMS driven by Dries Vanthoor and the n.47 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of poleman Maximilian Götz hit each other and the latter spun. Stippler went wide to try and avoid hitting the Mercedes, as did the n.18 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler on his left, but due to the lack of space Team ISR's driver eventually could not avoid hitting Götz and ended the race in the barriers.
Igor Salaquarda (Team ISR principal): "We are really disappointed for not showing all our speed during this weekend. We displayed a great pace in a very good comeback race one and, after the great Q2 put in by Stippler, we knew we could run a strong race two. Considering the title fight that was open, the risk of incidents into turn one was high, but it is really disappointing to end the race so early. This has definitely been a positive season, the whole team showed a great spirit of adaptation, performance has improved throughout the season and the only victory at Nürburgring does not match up our potential, as several episodes worked against us. We will have the time to draw the balance of this first season in ADAC GT Masters over the coming weeks and we will focus on defining the sporting programs for 2019."
Source: Team