ADAC GT Masters·11.8.2019

Comments after the second race at Zandvoort: Observations from the Zandvoort paddock on Sunday's race

Ricardo Feller (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P1 overall and winner of the Pirelli Junior class: "Mega! I've had a three-year wait to get onto the top rung of the podium. To have accomplished this at long last is an amazing feeling. I'm just incredibly happy. Early on, I pushed as hard as I could to open up a gap. After that, I tried to go easy on the tyres. Max was getting a bit closer towards the end, but by that time, he had also used up his tyres. Everything was great today. The only fright came after the finish when I noticed that the front right tyre was losing air, but by then, of course, it didn't matter."

Dries Vanthoor (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P1 overall: "The ADAC GT Masters is one of the world's most keenly contested championships, so to win a race here is really something. The positions stayed the same at the start, but later on in the stint, I was a bit faster than the race leader, Christopher Mies, which is why I stayed out two laps longer. That was the key to our victory."

Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P2 overall: "We made an elementary error on our pit stop by coming in early from a leading position and allowing our pursuers to do two free laps. It's a good result from a team perspective but, as anyone will appreciate, you're obviously going to feel extremely frustrated when you've got pole position, led the race, set the fastest lap and then only finish second. But we will learn from this mistake."

Max Hofer (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), P2 overall and P2 in the Pirelli Junior class: "I went on all-out attack to get past Ricardo. But I eventually realised that the gap was too big, and so I concentrated on bringing the result safely home. The team performance was magnificent overall. We can be proud of that."

Fabian Vettel (Mann-Filter Team HTP, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P3 overall and P3 in the Pirelli Junior class: "The season hadn't been working out as we had hoped, with a lot of bad luck and stupid DNFs. But now it has at last come together. At the beginning of my stint, I was able to keep Max well behind. But then the two Land cars suddenly became a lot faster. I tried to defend against Max, but I soon realised that I couldn't match him for pace. After that, I tried to go easy on the tyres. Anyway, we are very happy to have finished in third place."

Philip Ellis (Mann-Filter Team HTP, Mercedes-AMG GT3), P3 overall: "It was the good grid position that made this result possible. Because the qualifying session was red-flagged, I had only the one attempt at a fast lap, and fortunately it was a good one. The race itself was relatively unspectacular from my perspective. I tried to put pressure on the two leading Audis, but they were just too fast today. Consequently, I focused on protecting third place and managing the tyres for Fabian. He then made sure of the podium. So at last, a race day on which everything worked out. Long may it continue!"

Rolf Ineichen (Orange1 by GRT Grasser, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo), P4 overall and winner in the Pirelli Trophy classification: "I am very satisfied with today's race. We had a very good car today - everything was just right. I came under quite a bit of pressure from Luca Stolz. At first, I had a bit of difficulty getting into a proper rhythm, but it got better from the middle of my stint. It was quite tricky again later on, though, as we were getting a lot of tyre pick-up. However, I was gradually closing the gap on Fabian Vettel. If I could have done that earlier, it might have been possible to attempt a pass."

Klaus Bachler (Küs Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P10 overall: "All in all, a very good weekend. A big thank you to the team - the car was really good. Unfortunately, qualifying was a bit chaotic because of the red flag: with only five minutes left on the clock, half the cars hadn't even set a time. It then began to drizzle with rain, and I had a bit of a spin. The car was definitely good enough to finish in the Top Three. I then started from ninth place on used tyres and with 20 extra kilos on board. Our objective was to at least score points, and we did that. I am looking forward to the Nürburgring. If the car has the same degree of straight-line speed we had here, we should be able to get two decent results again."

Timo Bernhard (Küs Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P10 overall: "All things considered, that was a very positive weekend, with second place on Saturday and P10 today. We had to take 20 kilos of extra weight on board after Saturday's result, which we really noticed in the race. The car was still very good. Klaus had an excellent quali this morning and if it hadn't been for the red flags, he might even have booked a Top Three spot on the grid. It might then have been a very different race. But what's important is that both cars have emerged undamaged from the weekend and they both scored points. I was also very pleased for our number 18 car. What a great race! We'll be back in action at the Nürburgring next weekend where we'll be going on the attack again. We know we've got a fast car and a highly motivated team."

Adrien De Leener (Küs Team75 Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), P15 overall: "This morning's qualifying went really well. Matteo made it into the Top Ten. Unfortunately, we had to serve a ten-place grid penalty for yesterday's collision, so we started from P20 on the grid. Matteo moved up into 17th, putting points within our reach. I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't stop the car behind overtaking, but to be honest, he was simply faster, especially since I was struggling a bit with the front tyres. Still, we're pleased to have finished in the points with both cars for the first time this season. I hope we can achieve some decent results in the next couple of races."