Notes from the DEKRA Lausitzring

The fifth race weekend in the German GT Championship provided some interesting figures and stories. A glance at the notebook.

Fans’ favourite

Even before the races at the Lausitzring, Maximilian Paul was already popular with the fans. The local hero was surrounded by a crowd of autograph hunters in the pit lane on Saturday afternoon. He was signing t-shirts, flags and posters while friends greeted him, wished him luck or asked for a selfie. “It is unbelievable that so many people came here to ask me for an autograph, despite the rain. That is a great feeling and motivates me for the race,” says the driver from Dresden. He thanked the fans by claiming third place on Saturday, fifth on Sunday and a double win in the Pirelli Junior championship at his home race in the Lausitz.

Nicky Catsburg claimed his first pole position in the ADAC GT Masters on Saturday © Photo: ADAC

Easy come, easy go

In the second qualifying session of the weekend, a delighted Nicky Catsburg recorded the best time to claim his first Pirelli Pole Position Award in the ADAC GT Masters: “Things finally went our way on Sunday. Switching to slicks in qualifying was the right decision. It was great to get that pole position. I had the feeling that it was the morale-booster we needed,” says the Dutch driver. But then it was time for the race. Catsburg had been leading, only to miss the pit stop window defined in the regulations, due to a radio problem. The penalty subsequently imposed meant that he and his team-mate Jesse Krohn had no chance of finishing in the points. The team then decided to retire the car from the race.

Christopher Mies moves into third place in the all-time leaderboard © Photo: ADAC

Into the top 3 with a win

Together with Tim Zimmermann, Christopher Mies won the tenth race of the season in the German GT Championship on Sunday to move into the top 3 on the all-time leaderboard. The Montaplast by Land-Motorsport driver has now topped the podium in the ADAC GT Masters on 13 occasions. Only Christian Engelhart, who chalked up his 16th race win on Saturday, and Daniel Keilwitz, who tops the table with 22 victories, have a better record.

The most recent Audi winner, and the first: Christopher Mies and Jan Seyffarth © Photo: ADAC

Four rings on top

Sunday’s win also saw the orange car driven by the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport duo take its place in the list of the most successful vehicles. The Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II has already crossed the finishing line first on 24 occasions. Its predecessor remains in the lead, with 26 wins. Audi celebrated its 50th success in the ADAC GT Masters on Sunday. The first driver to win with an Audi paid close attention to the 50th victory: at Assen in 2009, Jan Seyffarth claimed the first win for the four rings with Christian Abt. Seyffarth was in attendance at the Lausitzring as Race Director for the Prototype Cup Germany.

Record 5.0

Fans broke another record at the fifth event in the German GT Championship: there were 21,500 spectators at the Family & Friends Festival at the Lausitzring. A new record for an ADAC GT Masters event at the 3.478-kilometre circuit and already the fifth record crown in a row for the ADAC GT3 series.

Eight different winning duos have already topped the podium in 2022 © Photo: ADAC

Podium merry-go-round

The ten championship races thus far in the current ADAC GT Masters season have already seen eight different winning duos top the podium. Only Mercedes-AMG drivers Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller, as well as BMW drivers Niklas Krütten and Ben Green, have recorded two wins this year. The qualifying statistics reveal even more varied results: Raffaele Marciello is the only driver to have produced the fastest lap and secured pole position on two occasions this season.

Juuso Puhakka and Ezequiel Companc from Madpanda Motorsport © Photo: ADAC

Challenging debut

Juuso Puhakka was competing for the first time in the German GT Championship for the first time at the DEKRA Lausitzring and was forced to miss out on important testing experience right from the start: engine damage during the first practice session restricted his testing opportunities and the crew spent a large part of the day repairing the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo “Malena”. He could only finish 19th in the races on Saturday and Sunday. The Finnish driver was satisfied nonetheless: “A tough weekend, with some positive aspects. Firstly, it was lovely to be back in a Mercedes and be driving with the pandas. I also really liked the ADAC GT Masters concept. The fans are involved and the sprint races are tough. Thanks to the Madpanda crew for their hard work!”