Spectacular weather attracted 45,000 spectators to the Sachsenring last weekend for the FIA GT1 World Championship at the ADAC GT Masters Weekend. The teams had competed in the third round in Portimao the previous weekend and therefore did not have any chance to work on the cars before the event at the Sachsenring.
The Swiss team came to Germany with the familiar pairs of pilots: Karl Wendlinger (AUT) / Peter Kox (NDL) in car #5 and Max Nilsson (SWE) / Jiri Janak (CZE) in car #6.
Wendlinger and Kox managed their Lamborghini Murcielago LP670 R-SV well in the free practice session on Friday. In dry conditions they reached P5, coming in only half a second behind the leading car. Nilsson’s/Janak’s Lambo reached P15. The setup of the cars was slightly modified for the qualifying which did not bring the desired results. Nilsson/Janak in car #6 reached start position 17. In the second qualifying session Wendlinger/Kox in car #5 secured start position 9 for the qualifying race. During Karl Wendlinger’s stint the red flag came out after a crash and the Stewards of the Meeting saw that the Austrian had overtaken a car during the red-flagged part. As a consequence, ten places were added to his grid position for the qualifying race, resulting in the last position.
The start on Saturday went well for both cars. However, due to their bad start positions they were not able to achieve good results. Wendlinger drove across the finish line in P12. In lap 25 Nilsson drove over tyre debris in high speed, went off the track and crashed into the barriers. It was the end of the race for him.
The next day, the Murcielagos started from P12 (#5) and P14 (#6) respectively. Again, both cars had a great start. However, shortly after the first turn Tomas Enge’s/Alex Müller’s Aston Martin (# 7) caused an accident. Wendlinger’s Lamborghini was involved and Nilsson was not able to move out of the way and crashed into the rear of the sister car. The damage on both Murcielagos was too much for them to continue the race.
Othmar Welti, team principal:
“We were very confident when we came to Germany. On Friday we showed a great performance and were very pleased. The qualifying session and the qualifying race on Saturday did not go according to plan. On the one hand, it was due to the added places to the grid position; on the other hand, we did not have enough pace because we had reset the setup of the car. With the added places it was very difficult to move up in the field. The Stewards of the Meeting made their decision which we have to accept. It is a matter of interpretation whether it was justified or not. The warm-up went very well because we used the setup from the pre-qualifying again. We were confident that we had a good chance to score points in the main race. Unfortunately both cars were severely damaged in a crash shortly after the start which was the end of the race for us. The damage is enormous and we do not think that we will be able to repair the cars in time for the Silverstone race. When Karl’s car made contact with Tomas Enge’s car our car spun. Max was right behind him and could have moved out of the way. Unfortunately, Vanessa Ickx left no room. And as a result we now have two damaged cars. Once more, the Stewards of the Meeting did not think that there was need for action!!??”
Erich Kolb, teammanager:
“The weekend had its ups and downs and a very bad end. During the free practice session we had a few problems with the correct setup of the cars which we had under control again in time for the warm-up. It went well for us and we were optimistic about the main race. Unfortunately, we were involved in the heavy crash right after the start of the race. Both cars were damaged severely; Lambo #6 even has a damaged frame. Our pilots were lucky that nothing worse happened. Max has to go to a medical check-up still today because he complained about pain in the back. It seems that some pilots still have not understood that the FIA GT1 races are no sprint races
I think it will be difficult to repair the cars for the Silverstone race because we are not able to produce all the parts in such a short amount of time.”
Karl Wendlinger (AUT), #5:
“The weekend was not satisfactory for me. On Friday we had a great car and a very good free practice session. The setup for the qualifying session on Saturday was not as good but we managed to reach a great ninth place. However, the Stewards of the Meeting gave me a penalty for overtaking under red flags and added 10 places to my grid position for the qualifying race. Anyway, the situation was that another car was in the gravel and the car I overtook was so slow that I thought it was damaged as well. Therefore I passed it. The qualifying race was pretty good and we managed to gain a few places. The start of the main race was good as well but during an accident shortly after both our cars were damaged. I am confident for Silverstone. If we get the setup right we should definitely aim for a place on the podium.”
Peter Kox (NDL), #5:
“We did well right from the start. We had a technical problem in the free practice session but still managed to reach P6. The qualifying did not go so well. We were not able to use the grip of the tyres and only reached P9. Therefore we did not qualify for Q3. It did not matter in the end because 10 places were added to our grid position for the qualifying race for Karl (Wendlinger) evidently passed a car under red flags in the first qualifying session. It is difficult to move up in the field from the last position and you have to try everything. At the start for the championship race we were hit for the second time. And it was the same Aston Martin that crashed into us. Our car #6 was damaged during the incident as well because Max did not have a chance to move out of the way. It is strange that no penalties are given to that car but we get a penalty for overtaking under red flags. I still remember such decisions from 2010; it feels like tilting at windmills. It is not good for the championship on the whole.”
Jiri Janak (CZE), #6:
“The weekend was very disappointing for me. I had no really good session, only the short warm-up was good. In the end, we found a good setup for car #6 and I felt confident. However, obviously there are some pilots who think that the races only last four or five laps and not a whole hour. It was another luckless weekend for me and I hope it will be better in the future.”
The next FIA GT1 World Championship race will take place at the traditional Silverstone Circuit from June 3rd to 5th.
Source : Swiss Racing Team