Christian Hohenadel impressed once again in the penultimate round of the GT1 World Championship. The reigning FIA GT3-European Champion showed a great performance in very tricky wet conditions at the inaugural race at the Goldenport track in Beijing and missed his second career win in the GT1 World Championship by just two corners.

Only two weeks after Hohenadel scored his first career win in the German VLN-Championship at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in wet and damp conditions, he also showed a great performance on the wet track in China. In the Qualifying Race, Hohenadel took the Hexis AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 in tenth position from teammate Andrea Piccini and battled his way forward to third position until the end of the race.

In the following Championship Race, Hohenadel started from the second row of the grid. As the rain at the Goldenport track got stronger, race control decided to start the race behind the Safety Car. When several cars spun into the gravel trap immediately after the race was declared green, the Safety Car deployed again. Eventually, Hohenadel only raced couple of laps under green conditions, but stayed in contention to the two leading cars. Then, a ultra-quick pit stop of the Hexis AMR-crew catapulted Hohenadels teammate Andrea Piccini into the lead after the driver change. Piccini built a solid gap of almost four seconds, when the Safety-Car deployed another time, five minutes before the finish. Then the drama happened: Two corners away from the front straight, were the Safety Car waited for the Italian, he lost control of the car and spun into the gravel trap, the victory almost certain in his hands.

“I’m of course disappointed, but things like this happen in racing”, Hohenadel said. “We struggled a bit in the dry conditions in practise and qualifying. But in the wet conditions in the two races, our car was unbelievable quick. Our plan, to stay out of trouble, almost worked.”

Even if Hohenadels chances for the World Championship title are now only mathematical, he is still third in the drivers ranking. “I always have to remember that this is my very first season in GT1-racing and I’m racing against former Formula 1 drivers, Le Mans-winners and other top-notch stars of our sport. And it has been a fantastic season so far us. Now my goal for the final round in Argentina is to finish the championship within the top three.”

Source : Christian Hohenadel