ADAC GT Masters: Carrie Schreiner Endures challenging Weekend at Spielberg

Carrie Schreiner and teammate Alain Valente saw their ADAC GT Masters weekend at Spielberg undone by BoP handicaps, on-track incidents, and misfortune, leaving them outside the top ten, as the team looks ahead to the season finale to turn their luck around.

Photo credits: Mika Böcker

Carrie Schreiner celebrated her birthday at the penultimate race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters in Spielberg, Austria; first the weather, then the bad luck did their best to spoil the Saarland-native's birthday, preventing her from breaking into the top ten.

Rain had been forecast all weekend, and Friday's practice sessions in particular were completely soaked. In contrast, the first qualifying session was held on an almost dry track, with only a cool, lingering dampness slowing drivers’ times early on Saturday morning.

Alain Valente therefore made a delayed start to the session but stayed out throughout, continually improving his times. He briefly took provisional pole and bettered his own laps several times. Only towards the end did he have to concede to five opponents as the track dried. When the ARC Bratislava Lamborghini was later disqualified, the Land Motorsport team inherited fifth place on the grid — to secure their best qualifying result of the season.

The result was particularly notable given the many guest starters, which significantly increased competition. Holding on to fifth place in such circumstances would have been a major success for the team.

But in motorsport, circumstances can go out of one's control. The Audi’s strong qualifying, with both cars in the top five for the first time, put pressure on the otherwise dominant BMW and Ford entries, which had struggled in the mixed weather. As a result, the Audis were hit with an additional 15 kg of BoP ballast. What had been an advantage in the morning quickly turned into a severe handicap in the afternoon.

After the formation lap, things only got tougher for the Land Motorsport crew. At Turn 1, Valente was boxed in and forced wide. At Turn 3 he remained on the outside and had to take a very wide line, before sliding two wheels into the gravel at Turn 4. Within a single lap he had dropped to 12th place.

He then managed to find his rhythm, matching the pace of the midfield. But his rivals were no easy opponents, and although Valente closed in, he never mounted a serious attack. Meanwhile, Richard Gonda was also putting pressure on him from behind.

When the pit window opened, Valente stayed out longer, attempting an undercut by stopping at the very end of the window. During the stop, as he handed over to Carrie Schreiner, the team slightly adjusted tyre pressures before she returned to the track in 14th place. Two Pro-Am cars with shorter minimum pit times had managed to get ahead.

Schreiner needed a few laps to find her pace, but then began to close in. With 20 minutes to go, the Schnitzelalm Mercedes came to a halt out of Turn 1, but as it was already behind the Land Audi, and parked safely, the race remained green. Shortly after, Schreiner passed Beno to move into 13th.

However, she could not get past the Fach Porsche, which in turn overtook Fetzer’s Mustang. The new BoP ballast was painfully evident here: Schreiner was much quicker in the corners but unable to capitalize, repeatedly held up on the twisty sections. On the straights — especially uphill — the Mustang stretched its legs and, despite poor exits, pulled clear. Schreiner ultimately crossed the line 13th overall, fifth in class, once again trapped behind the unassailable Mustang.

Photo credits: Mika Böcker

The second qualifying session was very wet, though the forecast suggested the track might dry. Carrie Schreiner took the risk on slicks, but in the cool conditions they proved extremely slow and difficult to bring into temperature range. Most rivals stayed on wets and repeatedly forced the Saarland-native onto the damp line, cooling the slicks again. By the time her tyres finally reached temperature, Beno spun at Turn 3 and brought out a red flag.

Although he rejoined, the interruption could not be undone. Back in the pits, Schreiner’s slicks cooled down, and the two remaining laps were insufficient for a competitive time. She had to settle for 15th on the grid.

Between qualifying and the race, Land Motorsport still found reason to celebrate: it was Schreiner’s birthday. She received congratulations, small gifts, and cake from the team, family, and friends, with her sponsor later joining in. On the grid, the track announcer even led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday.” A strong race result would have been the perfect gift.

When the lights went out, Schreiner immediately gained a place at Turn 3. At Turn 10, Primm ran wide, allowing her to pass again. But Primm countered on lap three, and Schreiner briefly fell back before settling into her pace. Two seconds behind him, she defended robustly against the #6 Engstler Lamborghini, whose driver clung desperately to her rear bumper, barely staying on track in an effort to pass.

Unable to find a clean way by, the Lamborghini driver resorted to a reckless move, lunging from far back into Turn 3 with 40 minutes to go. He hit Schreiner and spun her around, dropping her to last with a damaged Audi. The Lamborghini was penalized with three laps — a penalty far too lenient to drop it behind the delayed Audi.

At the pit window, Schreiner boxed immediately for repairs and handed over to Valente, her frustration clear. Fired up, Valente quickly found strong pace, setting laps comparable to the leaders. This allowed him to catch and pass the same #6 Lamborghini, now in the hands of Hütter.

But the gap to the midfield was already over 10 seconds. Valente consistently clawed back three tenths per lap, yet progress was slow. With three minutes left, he was still seven seconds behind. In the closing stages he closed the gap dramatically to just 1.5 seconds, but the race ended too soon. The Swiss driver took the checkered flag in 15th place.

Once again, the Land Motorsport team had the potential for a strong result, but once again luck deserted them. Schreiner’s season has been a mix of highs and frustrating setbacks: flashes of promise undone by bad fortune. As the team looks ahead to the season finale in Hockenheim, they hope to finally turn potential into results.