Carrie Schreiner and Lilou Wadoux endure a difficult weekend in GTWC Europe at the Nürburgring
- MIKA BÖCKER
- 3 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Both Carrie Schreiner and Lilou Wadoux got off to a promising start with their respective teams and were hopeful of making gains, but problems soon began to mount in the latest Nürburgring round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Both Carrie Schreiner and Lilou Wadoux got off to a promising start with their respective teams and were hopeful of making gains, but problems soon began to mount in the latest Nürburgring round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
The challenging race weekend began with highly changeable weather at the Nürburgring. Persistent drizzle hampered the initial test session. The "Bronze Test" offered a more realistic testing opportunity for some teams; however, the hunt for fast laps was quickly interrupted by a red flag after a Porsche ended up in the gravel at Turn 12.
Following a brief recovery operation, the shortened session resumed and proceeded without further stoppages. Several drivers put in impressive performances during this time; notably, a number of Bronze-rated drivers managed to beat the fastest times set by the Pro class in the first test by a significant margin—in some cases by more than four-tenths of a second. Schreiner, whose team also participated in the Bronze Test, did not feature among the frontrunners, finding herself in the middle of the pack.
The first official practice session also saw a red flag, though this time there was no visible incident on the track. The main grandstand was evacuated due to a fire alarm, explaining the safety-related stoppage. After the session resumed, both Wadoux’s and Schreiner’s teams clocked lap times in the 1:56 range. While this wasn't enough to challenge the leading group, they were not isolated at the back of the field either.
Practice 2 did not run smoothly either. Instead of stoppages, the day's drizzle played a key role. Conditions were initially too wet to head out on cold slick tyres, yet far too dry for any type of rain tyre. Most drivers opted to go out on used slicks, as these are easier to bring up to operating temperature. As the session progressed, the drizzle stopped, and the track began to regain grip.
Lap times dropped again, and both all-female teams managed to improve further after switching to fresh slick tyres. However, the session did not remain green until the end; the #17 Aston Martin crashed into the tyre barriers at Ravenol Curve after the rear end broke loose. A red flag was not required; the recovery operation took place under a Full Course Yellow.
Qualifying took place on Sunday on a track that was still damp from overnight rain, though this did not seem to hinder lap times. In Group A of Q1, the Tresor Attempto Audi clocked a 1:55.7—significantly faster than in practice—securing provisional 45th place overall. Lilou Wadoux meanwhile started Q1 for the Ferrari in Group B and posted a 1:54.5, a marked improvement over the previous day, placing her 19th overall.
Carrie Schreiner drove the Audi in Q2; she also improved significantly but fell just short of breaking the 1:55 barrier. Her laps were heavily affected by traffic, particularly in the final corner. Nevertheless, she had a stroke of luck: many drivers slipped on damp patches at the Vedol Chicane, and the yellow flag periods ended just ahead of her or began just behind her. In the combined qualifying standings, the car sat in 46th place.
The Ferrari was unable to match its Q1 time in Group B, lapping 0.4 seconds slower; consequently, Wadoux’s team slipped to 25th. While Schreiner’s Audi found peak form in Q3 with a 1:55.1 lap, the Ferrari seemed to lose steam, dropping another 0.3 seconds off the pace. Ultimately, the qualifying results placed them 49th (Schreiner) and 38th (Wadoux) in the overall standings.
By the time the race began, the track and weather were finally completely dry. Di Amato took the race start in the Tresor Attempto Audi from 8th place in the class, while Sean Gelael started the #50 AF Corse Ferrari from 18th. Several collisions and spins occurred in the opening corners, but both Gelael and Di Amato managed to stay out of trouble and even gain ground. While Di Amato moved up one spot in the class, Gelael managed to climb to 15th place; this put them in 46th and 35th place overall, respectively.
The chaos at the start didn't end with the first corner. In the Bronze class, the #11 Aston Martin received a 30-second time penalty, losing valuable ground. Meanwhile, Di Amato capitalized on the tightly packed field, advancing to 6th place within a few laps. After just nine minutes of racing, he had moved up to 5th. Although his charge was slowed by traffic from other classes, he still managed to pull away from the car chasing him.
The AF Corse team featuring Wadoux was meanwhile struggling more with making progress; during this same period, they dropped back to 16th place but managd to defend the position effectively, engaging in a long, hard-fought battle with the #68 car.
The Audi was benefiting from the misfortunes of others: the Kessel Racing Ferrari received a drive-through penalty for one of the opening-lap collisions and was now unable to replicate the performance shown during its dominant Bronze test session. Meanwhile, Di Amato struggled to overtake the Silver-rated drivers ahead of him.
When a Gold Cup car also passed him, the gap to fourth place widened to over six seconds; however, he maintained a similar margin over the car chasing him. Following the initial round of pit stops, the team moved up to 42nd place overall.
Gelael, in the #50 Ferrari, was making steady progress—albeit aided by the troubles of others. The #23 car spun out in front of him, clearing the way for the Indonesian. This briefly elevated him to 32nd place overall, though he slipped back to 36th after just under 30 minutes of racing. The car continued to lose positions as the stint progresses.
The #23 car’s spin was caused by a collision with the #60; the latter received a drive-through penalty, though both Wadoux and Schreiner's entries only benefitted in terms of overall standings. The AF Corse Ferrari was now running in 39th place, closely pursued by the Attempto Racing Audi driven by Carrie Schreiner.
The Bronze class standings were further shaken up as the #97 received a penalty for a collision. This, too, primarily helped the Attempto Racing Audi by widening the gap to the cars behind them, as the penalized vehicle was already trailing them.
After 53 minutes, the #44 car ended up in the gravel, triggering the first Full Course Yellow. As this coincided with the end of the stint, the pit lane became extremely congested. Schreiner’s team felt the impact of this, encountering further difficulties during their pit stop.
The refueling process—already the most time-consuming part of the stop—was delayed, setting the team back significantly. To make matters worse, the car’s handling seemed now worsened after rejoining the track. Lilou Wadoux also took advantage of a full-service stop at this opportune moment and took the wheel. She climbed onboard the Ferrari in 13th place in the Pro class, though sitting 38th overall. Following the stops, Schreiner dropped to 10th in class and 50th overall.
The race restarted after a brief additional Safety Car period with 1 hour and 53 minutes remaining. Schreiner was now running behind the Kessel Racing Ferrari—which had previously received a penalty—trailing by 1.3 seconds. However, she struggled to get up to speed after the green flag waved; faster classes approached from behind and squeezed in between the two cars.
Just a few minutes later, the field bunched up again: cars #97 and #45 collided and both ended up in the gravel. This triggered the second Safety Car period after only 75 minutes of racing. It was a positive development for Schreiner, not only because the gap to the cars ahead closed, but also because she inherited a position from the #97 car. Unfortunately, cars from other classes still stood between her and 8th place in the Bronze standings.
The restart took place after 85 minutes of racing. Schreiner was unable to attack the car ahead but had no need to worry about the pursuers, as the nearest rival was now almost a lap down. Meanwhile, Wadoux engaged in a fierce battle with the teammate ahead of her and the Rutronik squad behind her; they fought for P12 through P14 in the Pro standings.
While Schreiner finally began to close the gap, the next interruption loomed: the #5 McLaren lost its left rear wheel and rolled to a halt on the approach to the Veedol Chicane. It eventually came to a stop right on the racing line just before the chicane itself. The pack, approaching from behind, had to weave around the stranded McLaren.
Ultimately, the #44 car failed to navigate the maneuver successfully and clipped the McLaren’s left rear, and the wrecked McLaren remained stranded in the chicane. Due to the crash and debris, a Full Course Yellow was declared again at the halfway point of the race.
The restart took place after 20 minutes. Initially, neither Wadoux nor Schreiner managed to gain any positions—at least not within their respective classes. This changed for Schreiner a few minutes later when car #12 came to a halt with a puncture but was recovered under green-flag conditions.
With 64 minutes remaining, the driver from Saarland pitted for the final driver change, handing over to Tweraser. After her stint, she reported some vibrations and an overall deterioration in the car's balance. This is reflected also in Tweraser's times as he was also unable to improve upon them.
Wadoux meanwhile also came in for her final stop two minutes later. The French driver handed the Ferrari over to Arthur Leclerc while running 12th in class. The Ferrari team subsequently dropped to 17th place following a collision.
The field did not fully settle down as the final third of the race began. Car #555 was stationary with 53 minutes left in the gravel and triggered a full course yellow phase one lap later. The rescue worked within a few minutes, so it remained a short yellow. Leclerc got going well after the restart and was able to regain 15th place within a few laps. Tweraser in the Audi, on the other hand, also had to struggle with the balance problems described by Schreiner and had to be content with managing the distance to the following cars.
Leclerc was handed a penalty with 27 minutes to go for the previous collision in Turn 3. Almost 10 minutes later he would even receive another one, this time for a collision in Turn 4.
This meant that the AF Corse Ferrari was pushed to the bottom of the Pro ranking and was pretty much stuck in 38th place overall and 17th place in class. The Attempto Racing Audi also received a 10 second penalty, but this was due to a violation of the Full Course Yellow procedure. However, the gap over 9th place was sufficient and due to the slower lap times, the 7th placed-car was practically out of reach at that point.
Lilou Wadoux and her teammates thus finished in 40th place overall and 17th place in the Pro class. Carrie Schreiner finished 42nd overall and 8th in the Bronze class. The next round of the GT World Challenge Europe will take place from 18-20 September in Zandvoort on the North Sea coast in the Netherlands. Before that, Schreiner will complete the NLS double header, also in an Audi GT3.
