Reactions from the paddock after Saturday’s race in the German GT Championship in Hohenstein-Ernstthal
Raffaele Marciello, Mann-Filter Team Landgraf, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #48
“My tyres did not have so much grip shortly after the start. Fabian took advantage of that and I lost a position. After that, I attacked him repeatedly, but it is very difficult to overtake at the Sachsenring and he did not make any mistakes. I then just tried to look after my tyres.”
Daniel Juncadella, Mann-Filter Team Landgraf, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #48
“When you have not driven in qualifying or at the start, you have to make sure you bring the car home in one piece. I followed Jules, but could not get within striking distance. That was my first race here at the Sachsenring and it was a lot of fun, particularly driving through the fast corners. I found my rhythm towards the end, which is a good sign for tomorrow.”
Kim-Luis Schramm, Rutronik Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #27
“The first few laps were good, then the rear tyres degraded badly. As a result, we had to work hard to bring the car home safely in the second half of the race. Fortunately, we managed to do so.”
Dennis Marschall, Rutronik Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #27
“During the driver changeover, Kim told me that the car was not easy to drive and that we were struggling with tyre wear and oversteer. Fortunately, I had a lead of seven or eight seconds. The Porsche behind me was closing in all the time, but then also had tyre issues in the end. We did not expect to finish on the podium after the free practice, so we are very happy.”
Ayhancan Güven, Team Joos Sportwagentechnik, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91
“We had good pace, but the tyre pressure was dropping increasingly over the final few laps. For this reason, I took my foot off the gas a little, whilst at the same time trying to maintain the gap to the car behind me. The tyre then punctured in the final corner and I dropped back to fifth place. Just a few seconds longer and I would have held onto fourth place. However, we scored some valuable points, Christian and the team did a great job, and we will push again tomorrow.”
Ben Green, Schubert Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3 #10
“My start was good, but shortly after that I had contact with a number of cars and dropped back. I tried to attack, but it is hard to make progress in this strong field. Jesse was also unable to make up any ground in his stint. We must make a few changes to the car and see how we get on tomorrow.”
Christopher Mies, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #1
“I am happy that we managed to climb from 15th to eighth. Tim was a bit unlucky in this morning’s qualifying. Plus, we could have done without the 20 kilograms of extra weight here at the Sachsenring, following our win at the Lausitzring. The car was very good and I am hoping for a top-five result in qualifying tomorrow. That should make a good result possible in the race.”
Konsta Lappalainen, Emil Frey Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #14
“It was a difficult race for us. We got stuck in traffic in the first stint, then had issues with the car and tyres in the second part of the race. We have some work to do on the car this evening, and will hopefully come back stronger tomorrow.”
Thierry Vermeulen, Car Collection Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #33
“Unfortunately, we started from well down the field. However, I was able to overtake two cars after the start and then tried to close the gap to the drivers ahead of me. I had managed to do that by the time I came into the pits. Mattia made up a bit more ground, which allowed us to climb a few more positions. We have to be better in qualifying tomorrow, then we will have a good chance in the race.”
