Callaway Competition completed the rebuilding of its Corvette C7 GT3-R, which was badly damaged in a fire at the Lausitzring, with a roll-out. This means there is no longer anything preventing local favourite Marvin Kirchhöfer and last year’s winner Jeffrey Schmidt from taking to the grid.

As early as the Tuesday after the fire, Callaway managing director Ernst Wöhr promised: “We will be there at the Sachsenring!” And he was true to his word. Despite the narrow time frame and significant damage, the team has managed to rebuild the beefy US sports car in time.

The most important news was that the chassis and passenger cell had remained intact. “Due to the tremendous heat, the entire front section had to be replaced – including the engine. A special thank you goes to our suppliers, who, despite the short timeline, supplied us with the missing parts quickly and without any complications,” said team manager André Zanke. The final components were installed on Monday afternoon. The subsequent roll-out was a success. “I would like to thank the whole team for their tireless effort. We have such a great group! We are now hoping that we are rewarded for all that hard work,” said Wöhr.

The Callaway drivers are also delighted. “I am really impressed by how passionate every single member of the team is,” so Schmidt. “It is a great relief to be able to go racing again at the Sachsenring. We obviously have awesome memories of the Sachsenring, particularly last year’s win. It is a circuit, at which you, as a driver, have to be on top form. It is great fun to drive there. It undulates and the many blind corners make it a unique kind of driving pleasure. It will be important to qualify high enough up the grid, as it is very difficult to overtake there. This will be the key to success.”