Carrie Schreiner shows an upward trend at Zandvoort
Carrie Schreiner showed a significantly improved pace in both races at Zandvoort to score eighth and sixth in class in GT World Challenge Europe, securing valuable points ahead of the Sprint Cup finale in Barcelona.
After a difficult weekend at the Nürburgring last time out, Carrie Schreiner is back to scoring important points in the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup in the Netherlands.
Located right by the sea on the Dutch coast, the constant wind makes vehicle setup particularly challenging at Circuit Zandvoort. Although conditions remained dry throughout the weekend, track conditions continued to shift. In the first qualifying session, the setup yet not optimal, preventing the Tresor Attempto Racing Team from securing a better starting position.
Sebastian Øgaard had to start the first race from 38th place overall and 10th in class. Aside from the usual jostling, the start was clean, with the only minor chaos caused by the Kessel Racing Ferrari, which got in the way after suffering a tyre failure. Although Øgaard lost one overall position as a result, he managed to hold on to 10th place in class. A pack of Silver-class drivers stood between him and the next Bronze-rated driver, who was running in 33rd place overall.
Øgaard managed to reclaim 38th place overall after five minutes. Shortly afterwards, the No. 31 BMW and an Aston Martin collided in the banked Turn 3, triggering the first Safety Car period. Racing resumed after a few minutes, with Øgaard restarting from 36th overall and ninth in class. The next Bronze-class driver remained Fumanelli, who was running in 31st place overall.
As the race progressed, the difficulty of overtaking at Zandvoort became apparent, as did the Audi's strong race performance. Øgaard was held up by a Pro-class Audi ahead of him and had to wait for an overtaking opportunity. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Audi ahead was itself being held up by a Silver-class car and was struggling for pace. Shortly before the pit window opened, both Audis managed to move up, allowing Øgaard to enter the pit window in 34th place overall.
As for the pit window itself, Øgaard came in at the very last moment. Schreiner took the wheel after a slightly longer pit stop. Due to the duration of the stop, they had fallen back but remained in contention.
After the stops, Van der Linde's BMW was stranded beside the track, triggering a Full Course Yellow. However, this lasted only a short time, barely a lap. Racing resumed, and Schreiner was able to attack again.
With 15 minutes remaining, Schreiner was running 39th overall and ninth in class. She battled Blattner in the Kessel Racing Ferrari but lost the position after a few laps. Some time later, Pulcini, who was also charging through the field, overtook Schreiner. However, he overcooked it shortly afterwards and went off track. Although he managed to limp back to the pits after the incident, he ceded the position back to Schreiner.
Towards the end, Schreiner managed to close the gap to the rest of the Bronze-class field, showing particularly strong individual pace. However, on the tight Zandvoort circuit, she could not make further progress and finished eighth in class, helped by some penalties handed to drivers ahead of her for infractions during the Full Course Yellow phase.
In Race 2, the German driver started 41st overall and seventh in the Bronze standings, thanks to a very solid qualifying effort in the morning - again showcasing a much improved speed over the weekend. This time, cars spun and collided at Turn 3 on the opening lap, triggering a Safety Car. Schreiner inherited these positions and found herself in the middle of the Bronze pack, between Leung and Pulcini.
The restart came after just one lap. Schreiner was initially unable to capitalize on it. The green-flag was short-lived, however, as the Lionspeed Porsche became stuck in the gravel, triggering a Full Course Yellow with 50 minutes remaining. This phase, too, ended very quickly.
For the remainder of the stint, Schreiner attempted in vain to find a way past Leung. Throughout this period, she remained within the Bronze-ranked group; while she was able to attack occasionally, she simply could not find a way past despite again a very respectable pace. She headed for the pits when the pit window opened.
The catch, however, was that although the Bronze class had a five-minute pit window, every vehicle came in on the first possible lap. Consequently, the Tresor Attempto Racing entry lost both time and positions in the resulting traffic.
After the pit stops, Øgaard was running in 37th place overall and remained seventh in class, sandwiched between Schiller ahead and Cabirou's Porsche behind. The Kessel Racing Ferrari received a time penalty for an infringement under Full Course Yellow conditions, although Øgaard could not yet capitalize on this at this stage of the race.
Schiller and Farfus managed to pull away from Øgaard, yet the battle continued. With 20 minutes remaining, contact occurred between the two, causing Schiller to spin. Øgaard capitalized on the incident to secure sixth place. He subsequently maintained a four-second gap to Farfus while holding a steady five-second cushion over Fumanelli behind him.
In the closing minutes, he closed the gap not only to Farfus but also to Gold Cup driver Pittard. With five minutes remaining, Øgaard was right on the Briton's tail, putting him under pressure. On the final lap, Øgaard managed to overtake Pittard; although he remained in sixth place in his class, he demonstrated what the team was capable of under favourable conditions.
With two positive results, Carrie Schreiner collected valuable points ahead of the Sprint season finale in Barcelona on October 2–4 and was pleased with the outcome.
"I'm heading home with a good feeling," said Carrie after the races. "During the race, I was faster than the two drivers ahead of me in my class; the same was true for Sebastian during his second stint. But as everyone knows, overtaking is extremely difficult at Zandvoort if the other driver defends cleverly. I felt good in the car, and now we're focusing on the next Sprint Cup round in Barcelona."
