The Lausitzring round of the German GT Championship produced some fascinating facts and stories. Take a look at the notebook.

Closing the gap

Lamborghini drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Albert Costa Balboa may still be waiting for their first win of the season, but they did manage to make up valuable ground in the title race with third and fourth place. The duo from the GRT Grasser Racing Team are third in the table and now trail the overall leaders by just nine points. “I am quite happy with this solid weekend. We were up against tough opposition and got the maximum out of the situation,” said Costa Balboa. “We made up some good ground in the championship and are now entering the business end of the season. I am already looking forward to the Sachsenring. I am very optimistic. The best is yet to come.”

On the up

After a disappointing season so far, Aust Motorsport finally enjoyed some presentable results at the Lausitzring. While Sebastian Asch and Daniel Keilwitz finished 12th to score their first points of the season on Saturday, there was even better to come in race two: the two former champions battled their way from 17th on the grid to cross the finish line in tenth place – despite a penalty lap at the start of the race.

Double top

Montaplast by Land-Motorsport not only took the lead in the Driver standings after victory for Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies, but the team from the Odenwald region of Germany now also leads the Team competition.

Fast, but out of luck

Callaway Competition demonstrated the potential of the Corvette C7 GT3-R on both race days at the Lausitzring. In the end, however, drivers Jeffrey Schmidt and Marvin Kirchhöfer left empty-handed, through no fault of their own: in race one, Schmidt was involved in a collision on the very first lap. On Sunday, the Corvette caught fire whilst running fourth. “That is incredibly bitter for the whole team,” said Schmidt. “We were up there among the front-runners, so to come home with no points really hurts. On Sunday, I was entering the banked corner when a bit of smoke appeared at the front-left of the car. Then, all of a sudden, there was a huge flash of flame from the bonnet. I knew then that it was something serious.” Team-mate Kirchhöfer added: “We could really have picked up a lot of points this weekend. Now we must make sure that the car is ready again in time for the Sachsenring.”

Milestone

Yaco Racing celebrated reaching a special milestone in Lusatia. On the Sunday, the team from Plauen contested its 100th race in the ADAC GT Masters with an Audi R8. From 2013 to 2015, the Saxons ran the first generation of the Bavarian mid-engine sports car. Since 2016, they have fielded the latest version, which received an evo kit in 2020. During this time, Yaco has won two races.

Good start

Jannes Fittje enjoyed a successful start at Team Joos Sportwagentechnik. Together with regular driver David Jahn, the driver from Langenhain finished sixth on Saturday to claim the team’s best result of the season so far. “I have waited a long time for a race like that. It is great to get a top-ten finish again and to be up there with the front-runners,” said a delighted Fittje. The duo then finished 17th in race two. “Sunday did not go as we had envisaged. Despite this, the weekend with the team and David was great fun. Over the next few days, I must now secure a seat for the remaining races. As it stands, it has not yet been confirmed whether or not I will be here again at the Sachsenring in three weeks’ time.”

Milestone 2

Mann-Filter celebrated its 70th birthday at the Lausitzring. The filter brand not only celebrated this milestone with a host of guests at the racetrack, but the two bright-yellow “Mambas” in the starting field were also given a special look: a large sticker celebrating the brand’s big birthday looked resplendent on both the Audi of “Luci” Trefz/Christopher Haase and on the Mercedes-AMG of Raffaele Marciello/Maximilian Buhk, who are second in the table.

Small haul

With three victories and a number of other podium finishes, Robert Renauer is one of the most successful drivers at the Lausitzring. However, there were meagre pickings last weekend for the Bavarian and his team-mates in the Precote Herberth Motorsport team. The best result was the 13th place achieved by Renauer and Sven Müller on Sunday. “The Lausitzring is actually one of our favourite circuits,” said former champion Renauer. “We have enjoyed great success here in the past – this time it did not work out so well for us. We were lacking a bit of pace all weekend, plus we were unlucky. There was not a lot more we could have done.”

In the points for the first time

Elia Erhart and Pierre Kaffer finished tenth in Saturday’s opening race to score their first points in the 2020 championship. “We are naturally delighted with this excellent result. At all the previous racetracks, we could see that we have taken a big step forward. Above all, this is down to the outstanding job done by the Rutronik Racing by Tece team. Unfortunately, some incredibly bad luck has meant that this work has not really be reflected in the results. The tide has finally turned,” said the delighted Audi drivers.

One to forget

In 2020, in its debut season in the ADAC GT Masters, Team WRT claimed its maiden victory in the series and two pole positions at the Lausitzring. As such, the Belgians came into this year’s event with high expectations. However, they failed to live up to those expectations, instead failing to finish both races. “It was a very complicated weekend for us,” said team principal Vincent Vosse. “The car simply did not have the right pace, and we could not work out why. We will have to look into it very closely. When you find yourself in the middle of the pack, then you are prone to incidents, and we experienced that in both races.”

Still out in front

After eight of 14 races, Audi drivers Dennis Marschall/Kim Luis Schramm continue to lead the Pirelli Junior competition. However, fellow Audi man Ricardo Feller has cut the gap somewhat. The new man in third place in the competition for young drivers is Mercedes-AMG driver Igor Walilko. Overall race winners Feller and Walilko were logically the weekend’s big winners in the class for drivers aged 25 and under.

Ineichen bags a brace

Lamborghini driver Rolf Ineichen claimed wins number 40 and 41 in the Pirelli Trophy competition at the Lausitzring. However, Audi driver Florian Spengler continues to top the table in the class for non-professionals.

Vocal number

Talented Lamborghini driver Albert Costa Balboa shared a backstage secret in the press conference following the Sunday race. The man currently sitting third in the table revealed that he often strikes up a song in the race car. “My sister gave birth a few months ago. We always sing a children’s song about a snowman together. It always goes round in my head – even in the race car. However, I don’t have the radio on, otherwise my engineer would be angry.”

Strong Sunday for Zakspeed

Igor Walilko claimed his very first race win in the ADAC GT Masters on Sunday. For team-mate Jules Gounon, this was the seventh time on the top step of the podium – and the first in the 2017 champion’s comeback season, having raced in other series in recent years. It was also the seventh victory in the ADAC GT Masters for their team Zakspeed Mobil Krankenkasse Racing. Three of those wins came at the Lausitzring.