The first day at the DEKRA Lausitzring saw Simona de Silvestro (ADAC GT Masters) and Carrie Schreiner (GTC/Goodyear 60) set their first times on the track. Schreiner and teammate Stefan Mücke are in the mix of the leading group, as Simona de Silvestro and Klaus Bachler are battling in a tight field – with 26 cars within one second.
It is the ADAC Lausitzring weekend. A unique track in Europe – one of the very few ovals outside the US, even though the layout now used includes an infield. The circuit was opened in 2000 as replacement for the iconic – and dangerous – Berlin Avus and features twelve corners for a length of 3,478 kilometres in the beautiful countryside of the German Lausitz.
This weekend, it will be the ADAC GT Masters and GTC-Race championship to shine, each series with a female driver on its grid: Porsche works driver Simona de Silvestro (GT Masters) and young upcoming GT star Carrie Schreiner.
GTC & Goodyear 60
The first practice session on track to take place was the GTC series, with Carrie Scheiner and co-driver Stefan Mücke behind the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 from Phoenix Racing.
The duo started the weekend with a P2 overall – and in class, behind Tim Heinemann and Kenneth Heyer. They preceded teammate Salman Owega out of 15 participating crews this weekend.
Practice 2 saw Carrie Schreiner and Mücke a bit further down the order, finishing P4 overall. Owega was fastest, with Heinemann/Heyer second and the fast McLaren 720S GT3 by Dörr Motorsport with Dino Steiner and Phil Dörr slotting in third position in practice.
Nevertheless, it was a convincing P3 in SemiPro Class for Schreiner; a promising start for the weekend and the following Goodyear 60 qualifying in the evening.
And the official qualifying was a strong one for Carrie Schreiner and Stefan Mücke, as they brought their #99 Audi in 3rd place for Saturday's race. To go faster were only teammate Owega – in second place – and the paces-setters Heinemann and Heyer, who clinched the pole position with a gap of just 0,003 seconds.
ADAC GT Masters
In a massive field of 26 cars, Simona de Silvestro and Klaus Bachler had a more challenging first practice with their Porsche 911 GT3 R run by Precote Herberth Motorsport: it would result in a P15 at the end of the first session. A gap of 0,939 seconds separated Simona de Silvestro from the leading Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO of Ineichen and Perera.
Free practice 2 saw Klaus Bachler behind the wheel of the #7 Porsche and he finished the session in 17th place, with a gap of 0,651 seconds. The whole field is within one second, which is really promising for a close qualifying tomorrow morning at 11:00 local time.
Here's tomorrow plan schedule for Saturday at the Lausitzring – all session times are local time:
09:45 - GTC qualifying 1
11:00 - GT Masters qualifying 1
12:20 - GTC qualifying 2
14:35 - Goodyear 60 race
16:30 - GT Masters race 1