Reactions from the paddock after Saturday’s race in the German GT Championship in Hockenheim
Franck Perera, Emil Frey Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #19 “Jack Aitken ahead of me suddenly had issues during the pit stop, which meant I was not able to set off and lost time. I did not see much of the battle between Jules and Daniel, and didn’t know exactly what happened. I pushed and was eventually able to overtake Daniel. After a few tricky races, it is good to be back on the podium. Last year, we won both races in Hockenheim with the Lamborghini, and we want to see what is possible tomorrow.”
Arthur Rougier, Emil Frey Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #19 “Qualifying was not so good. We started down in eighth place. However, I immediately found a free line and was able to climb several positions. After that, I was able to close in on my team-mates, but did not want to attack. The car was very good and we came into the pits just behind them. Franck did a very good job in the second stint and managed to secure second place. This is a very good result for our team, with three cars in the top six.”
Maximilian Paul, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #71, Paul Motorsport “We made a few good decisions with regard to the set-up. In recent races, there have always been punctures, including for us. We have now been able to change the set-up so that we did not have any issues this time. Marco was once again mega in the second half of the race, and this podium shows how much we have improved. I would have nothing against it if the season were to start now.”
Marco Mapelli, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #71, Paul Motorsport “The team did a good job after the summer break. We had a few difficulties here at the start, and I was astounded how good the car was today. Max drove very well tactically in the first half of the race. We made up ground after the pit stop and were then in contention for the podium. It is a shame that race control was so strict on the track limit in turn one, but you have to accept that.”
Mick Wishofer, Emil Frey Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #14 “The race was okay, but there is obviously room for improvement. The Lamborghini is always strong in Hockenheim and we will hopefully be a few places further forward tomorrow. We have put a few points between ourselves and our closest rivals in the Team competition, and want to secure the title tomorrow.”
Ben Green, Schubert Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 #10 “It is great to win the title in the Pirelli Junior competition in my first season in the ADAC GT Masters. I am very grateful for the great help from the team and the support from my partner Niklas, who would have won this competition with me if he had not unfortunately missed a round. The race was very tough for me and I had to battle hard to finish seventh.”
Jusuf Owega, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #29 “It was difficult and I skidded quite a bit on the tyres. Despite that, we could have been looking at a podium if we had not been held up by the BMW. However, we could have driven better in qualifying. We must do that better tomorrow if we want to end the season as we began it: with a win.”
Mattia Drudi, Car Collection Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #33 “Thierry lost a few positions, but did a good job on the whole. In my stint, I was scrapping with the Mercedes and Audi in front of me when the tyre pressure suddenly dropped. I tried to continue, but there was simply nothing I could do. It is a shame, as we could have had a top-ten finish. We must now try to get a good result tomorrow.”
Fabian Schiller, Drago Racing Team ZVO, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #4 “It was once again a good race for us, unfortunately with a poor outcome. We showed again that we are among the fastest in the field. As we hardly had any chance of winning the title, we wanted to end the season with some top results in Hockenheim. Jules possibly chose the wrong place to try an overtake, and suffered a puncture as a result. That is racing. We will go all out for the win again in tomorrow’s final race.”
