The first outing of the Prototype Cup Germany at a street circuit ended with the fastest time going to Robin Rogalski (22/POL) / Valentino Catalano (17/Westheim). The DKR Engineering duo were 0.082 seconds faster than second-placed Belén García Espinar (23/ESP) / Xavier Lloveras (23/ESP, both van ommen racing by DataLab) at the 2.162-kilometre Norisring. Sebastian von Gartzen (30/Butzbach) and Maximilian Hackländer (33/Rüthen, both Konrad Motorsport) completed the top three. Oscar Tunjo (27/COL) / Julian Apothéloz (22/CHE, both van ommen racing by DataLab) and Markus Pommer (32/Untereisesheim) / Gary Hauser (31/LUX, both Racing Experience) were fourth and fifth fastest.
It is a particularly special race weekend for Spaniard Belén García Espinar, who is sharing a car with her boyfriend Xavier Lloveras for the first time. She is also making her first appearance at the Norisring, and was immediately taken by the circuit. “It is great fun driving here. I enjoyed the first free practice and feel ready for the next sessions.” García Espinar, who is standing in for Czech driver Gabriela Jílková in Nuremberg, was first in the number 5 Duqueine, before handing over to Lloveras towards the end of the session. “In the end I was 0.25 seconds off Xavier’s fastest time, which is okay to start with.”
Behind the two Spaniards was the Konrad Ginetta, with Sebastian von Gartzen and Maximilian Hackländer at the wheel. “We are happy so far,” said Hackländer, who was the faster of the two in FP1. “This is the first time we have driven the LMP3 car at the Norisring, and I believe we did a good job. We have our eye on a few things we can improve in the second free practice.” Hackländer is one of the few drivers in the Prototype Cup Germany who already have experience of the Norisring. “I was here with the Volkswagen Polo Cup in 2009, but don’t think that was an advantage for me today. That was a long time ago and the Polo is a completely different car to the prototype I am driving today.”
