Reactions from the paddock after the Sunday race in the German GT Championship in Spielberg.
Dennis Marschall, Rutronik Racing, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #27: “We struggled all weekend with the Audi. I had a good start on Sunday and overtook Sven. Although he was faster than me, I was able to keep him behind me to a certain degree. We delayed the pit stop for as long as possible, in order to counter the undercut from the Porsche. Unfortunately, we did not manage that. Kim was very good in the second section and had mega pace. Sixth place was a good result.”
Marco Mapelli, T3 Motorsport, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #71: “It was a tough race. I was blocked by other cars at the start and lost a few positions. We than opted for an early pit stop, but Maximilian was also unable to make up any ground. We must improve with the car and be better in the next race.”
Simon Reicher, Eastalent Racing Team, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #54: “Altogether, our goal is to score points – and we did that in race one. The second race on Sunday was poor, you have to say. We had issues with the brakes and that is of even greater consequence at a high-speed circuit like the Red Bull Ring, with its hard braking points. However, we were not far off, in race one at least, and came through from 22nd to finish 14th. We are a new team, are still learning, and will be better equipped to do well at the next round in Zandvoort. As an Austrian, it was nice to be back home.”
Albert Costa Balboa, Emil Frey Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #63: “I am very happy. We had a good race and fought hard. I was able to pick off the cars ahead of me one by one and tried to avoid making any mistakes and look after the tyres. That allowed me to push hard again in the closing laps and climb into eighth place. We had good pace and scored valuable points in the championship. We will now turn our attention to the next round in Zandvoort.”
Jan Marschalkowski, Mercedes-AMG Team ZVO, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #8: “After yesterday’s disappointment, today was much better. Daniel got us off to a mega start, had a great race, left me with plenty of life in the tyres and handed over a perfect car. We had great pace and I wanted to attack the two Audi ahead of me. Unfortunately, I was almost taken out by a rival, which meant we just came up short in the end.”
Christian Engelhart, Team Joos Sportwagentechnik, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91: “I am very happy with this race weekend. It is not often that you finish on the ADAC GT Masters podium two days in a row. Unfortunately, we had no chance of making any progress sat the start. I had to fend off some attacks from Dries during the race, but soon noticed that he was far faster than me and he then made it past. Fortunately, we still finished third in the end.”
Mick Wishofer, Emil Frey Racing, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #14: “That was not our weekend. We had technical issues. In the second race, the clutch gave up and I had to retire the car. That was obviously a great shame, as I wanted to put on a great show for the home fans. Although it did not all go to plan on the track, it was once again fantastic to drive at home at the Red Bull Ring. Next year, we will come back stronger.”
Christian Klien, JP Motorsport, McLaren 720S GT3 #88: “The guest start with JP Motorsport at the Red Bull Ring was great. The ADAC GT Masters is a cool and mega strong series. The standard is very high and mistakes are punished immediately. We were well prepared here, particularly as we knew the tyres from other series. Unfortunately, the front splitter of the McLaren was damaged in the first race. In race two, we improved by two places in qualifying and then came home ninth to claim a top-ten result. All in all, it was really great fun.”