Célia Martin and Fabienne Wohlwend continued to make big progress in ADAC GT4 Germany, just missing out on points in race 2 at Lausitzring - having also battled an unfavourable BoP for the Aston Martins and a brake issue in race 1. A point scoring finish now feels just around the corner.
ADAC GT4 Germany's only female crew composed of Célia Martin and Fabienne Wohlwend tackled the Lausitzring for the fourth round of the championship, looking to build upon the speed unlocked at the previous round at Nürburgring. Martin and Wohlwend had in fact been the protagonists of a very encouraging step forward in tricky conditions at the Eifel, just two weeks ago. In mixed weather, Fabienne and Célia battled for the top ten in both races, but they couldn't capitalize on their pace due to misfortunes. A tyre puncture in race 1 and a hit from a competitor in race 2 took the #13 PROsport Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 out of contention for the top-10 - but performance had definitely been unlocked, and the all-female crew was looking forward to keeping momentum. At Lausitzring, though, the team would have to battle against a particularly unfavourable BoP for the Aston Martins, which was quite evident from the practice sessions - in a similar situation of the Zandvoort weekend. Nevertheless, Martin and Wohlwend's progression was still evident from the start of the season and they ran in contention for the top-20 after the first timed sessions. With a 1:28.563, Fabienne Wohlwend qualified the car in P22 for the first race of the weekend - in a promising effort that suggested a potential top-15 in race pace. Nicolaj Moller-Madsen took pole from Daniel Gregor in a Porsche 1-2, as Hugo Sasse's PROsport Aston Martin was third, ahead of three Mercedes of Rodrigo Almeida, Marc de Fulgencio and Jan Philipp Springob. The second half of the weekend got underway; Almeida had a great start and took third while Moller Madsen and Gregor battled for the top spot into turn 1; it was on the other hand a difficult start for the Aston Martin of Sasse, who dropped to tenth as he struggled to keep up the pace with other cars on the action-packed first lap that saw several drivers surviving trips to the grass. Behind the wheel of the #13 PROsport Aston Martin Vantage, Fabienne Wohlwend drove a very smart first lap, taking avoiding action and making up positions: after the first lap, the Lichtenstein-based racer was up to P19, just before the safety car was deployed for an accident involving the #84 CV Performance Mercedes of Patrick Steinmetz and the #23 Overdrive Porsche of Stefan Bostandjiev.
Despite the challenges of the BoP, Wohlwend kept position at the restart and chased the #12 Team Piro Sports Toyota, passing Falkenbach on lap 8. One lap later, she would complete a great pass on the #18 BWT Mucke Mercedes of Gjerdrum as well, then picked up P16 when Eric Scalvini's Wimmer Werk Porsche slowed down.
While battling in the crowded midfield, Wohlwend still recorded competitive lap times - but as she tried to find a way past Max Kronberg, she lost two places on lap 14.
The pit window opened but Wohlwend stayed out, having just cleared Kronberg once the #30 Porsche took the way of the pitlane. She ran as high as sixth overall, before pitting on lap 20 when she was supposed to hand over to Célia Martin.
The #13 Aston Martin, though, suffered braking issues and lost five minutes - and three laps - in the pitlane due to repairs, before Célia Martin could finally rejoin, just targeting some track time ahead of the second day.
Finn Zulauf inherited the lead in the #75 AVIA W&S Motorsport Porsche, but soon had to battle with BWT Mucke's Josef Knopp and the Project 1 BMW of Michael Makes, who was able to snatch the lead just before a second safety car was deployed with 10 minutes to go. Finn Zulauf survived a spectacular final laps to win race 1 ahead of Michael Makes and Nico Hantke.
Célia Martin was classified P22: "A brake problem in race 1 lost us too much time in the pits, but we kept going", she commented.
Martin was back behind the wheel for the second qualifying session on Sunday morning, in a sunny Lausitzring. The Frenchwoman ran in the top-20 showing good speed - not far from the other Aston Martins and ahead of the sister car of Sokolovskiy. With a 1:29.500 in the closing minutes, Martin qualified in P25 for the second race, with Finn Zulauf bagging pole position ahead of Denis Bulatov. One second separated the pole sitter from P20 - which highlights the competitive nature of the series. Célia had a great start, kept the inside line and avoided the incidents happening just in front of her at turn 1, with Hantke making contact with Rennhofer and eventually resulting in a safety car. She slotted into P22 on the first lap and continued her charge at the restart, attacking the #12 Team Piro Toyota. While battling with Piro, Martin also had to defend from Kieffer's #26 Allied Racing Porsche. Finn Zulauf kept the overall lead ahead of Bulatov and Fittje - in a rather hectic first stages of the race. On lap 10, Bulatov made a move for the lead and it ended in tears for Finn Zulauf, who was hit and sent into the gravel. Now into the top-20, Martin was faster than Kieffer and kept applying pressure on the Porsche that had previously got by. Célia gained back the position on lap 12 and tried to chase Piro once again - now five seconds up the road. The pit window opened and Martin was back into the pits having run as high as 15th during the first laps of the pit cycle. Fabienne Wohlwend took over the #13 green-liveried Aston Martin on lap 17, rejoining in P22. Fabienne soon moved back into the top 20 after everyone had completed their pit stops: from P19, she picked up another position on lap 23 and improved the team's best lap soon after.
With 10 minutes to go, Wohlwend's pace continued to be extremely consistent, as the cars ahead started to struggle more. Wohlwend moved up to P17 with less than 5 minutes to go and continued to close in on the #12 Toyota Supra GT4 of Robin Falkenbach. She did catch both Falkenbach and Steinmetz on the final lap - and managed to overtake both, but there was contact at turn 1, which eventually resulted in a 5 second penalty. Having crossed the finish line in P15, Fabienne Wohlwend and Célia Martin were classified P19, after good battles that still resulted in yet another encouraging recovery. "Overall a good weekend", Célia Martin summed up. "Just a shame that for the second weekend in a row the final results don’t reflect the progress we are making as a team. This weekend we had the race pace to run in the top 15 despite a tough BOP for the Aston Martins. With 1 second covering P1 to P20 in quali we can be happy with our performance", she explained. "In race 2 we started P23 and I handed the car over in P17 - was really happy with my stint, hard work as with the heat in the car", Célia continued. "Fabienne did a good job pushing to cross the line in P15 for our first points but had an unfortunate contact meaning a 5 second penalty in the end." "In Race 2, Célia and I gave it our all", echoed Wohlwend. "We crossed the finish line in 15th place, which would have been a points finish but a 5-second penalty due to contact at Turn 1 brought us down. It's disappointing but I'm really proud of our progress and strong performance." "We leave Lausitzring happy and looking forward to the next round" - Martin concluded, as the fast duo will now focus on the next races at Sachsenring, on 9-10 September. While just missing out on points, Martin and Wohlwend can be proud of the progress made in the last couple of rounds, as an important result now feels just around the corner.
