Here’s what the drivers had to say after the first two practice sessions at round four of this season’s German GT Championship.

Robert Renauer (Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R): “The Lausitzring is a short circuit, at which every mistake is punished. It is really important to put together a flawless lap here. We have managed that regularly in recent years. As such, we are optimistic about the race weekend. The first sector, in particular, should really suit the Porsche. We are relatively light and have a short wheelbase, so it is easier for us to get round the slow corners than it is for other cars.”

Marvin Kirchhöfer (Callaway Competition, Corvette C7 GT3-R): “The first free practice session was not great. Unfortunately, we had an issue with the brakes. Fortunately, we solved it before FP2 and the car seems to be running well again. Yesterday, we caught up well, but today was rather disappointing. On the whole, we managed to establish a good basis for tomorrow. We will find out in qualifying how near the front we are.”

Mirko Bortolotti (GRT Grasser Racing Team, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo): “We feel good after the practices. We moved in the right direction yesterday. The car feels better than it did on the test day. Tomorrow, the results matter. We have done a good job so far, let’s see how it goes in qualifying. It is always very close at the top here, so it is sure to be interesting. I am delighted that spectators are permitted again, they always created a totally different backdrop and atmosphere.”

Ricardo Feller (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS): “The car feels good. I think we are well prepared. However, it is always difficult to say on Friday how we will fare in the end. I am obviously hoping that we do as well tomorrow as we did today. It is important to continue to score as many points as possible in the championship. I am not actually concerned about leading at the halfway point of the season. What matters is the table after the finale at the Nürburgring.”

Luca-Sandro Trefz (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS): “We have mixed feelings after the test day and the first practice sessions. The car is not running badly, but we are unfortunately lacking a little pace. If we can finish in the top ten tomorrow, we will be happy. We must now work hard again and take a closer look at the data, in order to play a role at the front of the field.”

Maximilian Paul (T3 Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo): “We have been able to do a lot of testing and have a good feeling after the practices. The Trophy session was good and we have outstanding pace, even in the long runs. We must now convert all that in qualifying and put together a good lap. It is fantastic to see fans at the track on home soil again.”

Nick Yelloly (Schubert Motorsport, BMW M6 GT3): “Unfortunately, we leaked some oil in FP1. However, we were able to fix that relatively quickly. Thanks to our good test on Thursday, we still managed to finish quite high up in the second practice session. We also improved on the long runs. We feel good and are hoping for better results here than last year.”

Michael Ammermüller (SSR Performance, Porsche 911 GT3 R): “The Porsche has always been fast at the Lausitzring in recent years. As such, we hope to be strong again this year. Failing to finish race two meant our Zandvoort weekend was not exactly ideal – not what we were hoping for. Despite this, we will continue to work hard, as we have done in the races so far. We were able to improve our car during yesterday’s test. Only tomorrow will reveal where we stand compared to everyone else.”

Dries Vanthoor (Team WRT, Audi R8 LMS): “It is hard to estimate where we will be in the race. We will try to be at our best. However, it is hard to predict whether we will have such good results as we did last year. Two pole positions and two victories would obviously be awesome.”