Reactions from the paddock after the Saturday race in Oschersleben.
Winners and well-placed drivers on the opening race of the 2021 ADAC GT Masters:
Raffaele Marciello (Mann-Filter Team Landgraf – HTP/WWR, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo), 1st overall: “I am delighted to have won with the team. We now go into tomorrow’s qualifying and the race full of confidence. We will continue to do our best, in order to hopefully be celebrating again come the end of the season.”
Maximilian Buhk (Mann-Filter Team Landgraf – HTP/WWR, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo), 1st overall: “It is great to be racing in the ADAC GT Masters again. It all became a bit precarious when it briefly started to rain during the race, but Raffaele handled it superbly and laid a good basis for the win. The strength in depth is extremely high this year and everyone is pushing to the limit. As such, I am all the more pleased with the solid and good structure we have in the team. I really couldn’t be happier.”
Mirko Bortolotti (GRT Grasser Racing Team, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo), 2nd overall: “On the whole, we are very happy with the race, despite the difficult qualifying with the crash. I am very grateful to the team for repairing the car in time for the race. After a good start, we tried to push as much as possible, and were able to gain a few places. We can be very happy with today’s second place. Generally speaking, it was a very good start to the season and we will do our best again in tomorrow’s race.”
Albert Costa Balboa (GRT Grasser Racing Team, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo), 2nd overall: “I am very pleased that we made it onto the podium here in Oschersleben. We are really focussed this year and can hopefully continue to achieve good results in the future. Together with Mirko, we are doing a very solid job. On the whole, I think that was a good start to the season. During the race I had a few issues with the tyre grip and was skidding a lot.”
Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), 3rd overall: “Ricardo did a very good job, as they did in qualifying too. The result is nice, but we must still improve. Third place in the race is a fair reflection of our pace at the moment. We were able to pull clear of the BMW behind us and comfortably manage our position in the race. We were able to achieve a slight advantage with our tyre strategy today. It will be even more difficult in tomorrow’s race. A good qualifying is key here.”
Ricardo Feller (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS), 3rd overall, Pirelli Junior winner: “The start was good. Unfortunately, I was not able to use the new tyres as well as I wanted. However, I think we had a solid race on the whole, particularly given the fact that it started to race. It was not so easy on the slicks in the rain, but it all worked well. I hope we are able to start in the top ten again tomorrow.”
Christian Engelhart (Küs Team Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), DNF: “Unfortunately, today was not our day. The team had done a superb job and prepared the car really well. This morning’s qualifying was a bit unfortunate. The red flag came at the worst possible time for us. Despite that, ninth place on the grid was still a really good starting position. We were then running around that position in the race. Unfortunately, I then made a mistake and came off the track as it started to rain. That resulted in me losing a few positions. It is simply so close in the ADAC GT Masters, that there was no recovering from that. I am very, very sorry for the team. We will do better tomorrow and come back stronger.”
Jannes Fittje (Küs Team Bernhard, Porsche 911 GT3 R), 12th overall, 5th in the Pirelli Junior competition: “I was unlucky with the red flag in qualifying, and a yellow had already interrupted me before that. As a result, I was not really able to set a time and we had to settle for P18. The start was then very good and I was immediately able to gain a position. From then on, it was difficult to overtake on the track. When it started to rain, I was able to climb a few positions and handed the car over in P13. Dylan then also did a good job. He had good pace and brought us home in P12. On the whole, it was damage limitation. We scored our first points in the first race, and the result in the Junior classification was also okay. We did not really expect that after qualifying. It is Dylan’s turn for qualifying tomorrow. He will put his foot down and make sure that the car starts from further towards the front of the grid. Then we will go on the attack again and pick up a few more points.”