Not all went as expected for team rhino’s Leipert Motorsport at the ADAC GT Masters which was held at the Sachsenring last weekend. During the first race, a stop&go-penalty prevented a good result, and duo Rafi Bader/David Mengesdorf finished in 20th position in their Lamborghini Gallardo LP 600+ # 11. One day later, the team couldn’t finish the race due to a competitor. Driver duo Oleg Petrishin/Korbinian Baier in sister car # 12 gave a solid performance. Baier had his first GT3 race on the Sachsenring and therefore knew neither vehicle nor circuit.
The GT Masters Qualifying on Friday was very chaotic. The first qualifying had to be interrupted after only five minutes due to an accident of a competitor. As the Stewards finally decided to call off the session due to these repair works, a new start was against rules and regulations. Consequently, grid positioning was based on the official ranking list resp. was decided upon by lot. For the Team, this meant grid position 26 for car #12 and driver Petrishin and grid position 30 for car #11 and driver Mengesdorf. The second qualifying was held as usual – although approx. 1 h late – and driver Bader and car # 11 came in 24th whilst Baier came in 36th in car # 12.
On Saturday, Lamborghini # 11 with driver Mengesdorf at the start improved position by position. In lap 15, he had already raced forward to position 17. A change of driver still went well, but then the pit stop was slightly too short. Bader therefore got a 1 sec. stop&go-penalty which threw the Lamborghini back to position 21. The Suisse managed to make up one position before the end of the race. After a driver change for Lamborghini # 12, Korbinian Baier’s first GT3 race unfortunately ended in the gravel as he had driven over a dirty part of the track.
Later, the second race for Lamborghini # 11 and drives Bader/Mengesdorf ended in lap 19 already, as an overly motivated competitor hit Bader’s left rear wheel during the race. The Swiss had a pit stop as he suspected a flat tire. Luckily, this wasn’t the case, but the suspension had been badly damaged. The mechanics of rhino’s Leipert Motorsport tried to quickly repair the damage, but in vain. Petrishin finished the race in sister car # 12 in position 29.
Ingo Leipert’s comment as Team Manager of rhino’s Leipert Motorsport was as follows: “The penalty on Saturday was most annoying. David and Raffi were racing really well, but after the stop&go-penalty, they were thrown right back. Korbinian Baier showed constant improvement over the entire weekend. It was all new to him, but he remained cool.”
Races seven and eight of ADAC GT Masters shall be held at the Nuerburgring as part of the ADAC Truck GP on 14th and 15th July, 2012. The weekend prior to this event, team rhino’s Leipert will take part in the FIA GT3 European Championships in Portimao.
Source : rhino’s Leipert Motorsport