Patric Niederhauser (HCB-Rutronik Racing, Audi R8 LMS), overall P1: "It’s indescribable, really – this morning my first pole position and now a first victory. What a great feeling. I got off to a good start. After the safety car, the R8 ran perfectly and I was able to pull out a gap. I focused on my own race so as not to make mistakes. Everything went smoothly right up to the handover to Kelvin."

Kelvin van der Linde (HCB-Rutronik Racing, Audi R8 LMS), P1 overall: "It’s marvellous that I’ve been able to contribute to the HCB-Rutronik success story. Every victory is something special. It’s not easy to win in the ADAC GT Masters, so I celebrate every triumph accordingly. The car today was perfect. It was only late on that I had to watch out for the tyres and throttle back slightly."

Mirko Bortolotti (Orange1 by GRT Grasser, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo), P2 overall: "I got off to a good start and braked very late on the outside in an attempt to defend my position. Although I had left a lot of room inside, I caught a blow to the rear wheel, which forced me into the emergency exit of the chicane. Unfortunately, I had no other choice, but fortunately, it didn’t cost me a position. After the safety car went back in, I tried to take the car to the limit without overworking the tyres. I soon realised that the pace of Patric [Niederhauser] was much too strong for me, so my focus was then on driving my own race and handing over the car in a decent condition to Christian [Engelhart] in the middle of the race. I’m very happy with our second place today, and our focus now has to be on tomorrow’s race. We couldn’t really have got any more out of today’s race than we actually did."

Christian Engelhart (Orange1 by GRT Grasser, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo), P2 overall: "Today, we really got the maximum out of our package. Mirko drove an incredible lap in qualifying, and we were able to hold on to the position in the race, but unfortunately we did not have quite the pace to fight for victory. In my stint, I was getting a lot of pressure from behind. But anyway, I am very happy to have finished second."

Max Hofer (Montaplast by Land Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P3 overall, winner in the Pirelli Junior class: "Looking back over the past few days, we would not have expected to get such a result, because we were having major problems with the car. Fortunately, we found the right solution yesterday afternoon and were able to show our true speed in qualifying today. The race was very tough, but we are very happy with third place. Tomorrow is a new day, so we’ll be starting with additional ballast, but we’re obviously happy to take it on board if it’s the price for scoring championship points. For us, it’s important to deliver a good qualifying result tomorrow; then in the race itself, we will be in all-out attack mode again."

Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P3 overall: "We are generally very satisfied – the car had incredibly good pace today. Of course, we would have liked to celebrate our first podium of the season directly after the race and not have it presented to us after a decision behind closed doors. Max did a great job in qualifying by getting us third place on the grid, and we are obviously hoping that things go equally well tomorrow."

Indy Dontje (Mann-Filter Team HTP, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P5 overall: "I got off the line superbly well and passed the Porsche starting alongside me. I was on the right of the track when suddenly a car came flying across the grass, driven by someone who apparently thought he could overtake 20 cars in the first corner. I narrowly missed the ensuing collision and was able to gain three positions. After that, I tried hard to up the pace while still taking care of the tyres so that I could hand over a good car to my partner Max."

Marvin Dienst (Schütz Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P6 overall, P2 Pirelli Junior classification: "Our start went off OK until there was a big impact at the rear right of our car in the first corner. The battle scars on the car stand out like a sore thumb, but fortunately, the damage was not enough to make itself felt during the race. We were able to maintain fifth position until the driver handover but then lost a place during the pit stop. We still have to analyse the data to see exactly where we lost time. Aidan did a great job, finishing sixth overall and second in the Pirelli Junior class, so we can be very pleased about that."

Aidan Read (Schütz Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P6 overall, P2 Pirelli Junior classification: "We had a pretty amazing race! Marvin did an excellent job right from the start, avoided collisions in the chaos at the first corner and put us in a great position. I was then able to take the car over in a decent position and hang on to it during my stint. It was not easy, because we had a lot of pressure from behind. With what’s been achieved so far – two Junior podiums, fifth place overall at Oschersleben and sixth place here – I’ve made a really successful start to my first ADAC GT Masters season, which is also my first in Europe. Although we still have a lot to learn, the team are doing a great job. I hope we can repeat our fantastic pace in tomorrow’s race."

Mattia Drudi (EFP Car Collection by Tece, Audi R8 LMS), P7 overall, P3 in the Pirelli class: "I’m very satisfied with today’s result. We were really fast at Oschersleben but had some bad luck in qualifying today. Still, I’m very pleased with seventh place in the general classification and P3 in the Pirelli Junior stakes. The team did a great job and gave me a really good car. I was quick during my stint but then got stuck a bit in traffic. We can be very happy with our highly respectable result in view of the fact that overtaking here at Autodrom Most is very tricky."

Fabian Vettel (Mann-Filter Team HTP, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P16 overall: "That was my first proper start in the ADAC GT Masters, as I had to set off from the pit lane at Oschersleben, and it struck me immediately that no one gives you any quarter here. The first chicane went well, but a few turns later I was alongside a Corvette that was forced to run wide in the next left-hand turn. I had to go onto the gravel in order to avoid contact with any of the cars in the bunch and lost a lot of positions. Shortly after that, an Audi drove through the grass and rejoined the track directly in front of me, so I lost the connection to the front-runners a little. Still, we could see that we were on the pace. The car was excellent, and with a bit more luck, we’ll finally score some points tomorrow."