Two wins in Junior class for Vivien Schöllhorn in Audi R8 Cup at Hockenheimring

VIVIEN STREBELOW

Sep 23, 20213 min read

More improvements and good pace resulted in two Junior class victories for Vivien Schöllhorn and her best overall finish at Hockenheim - in her rookie season in Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup. She is now 5th overall in the championship standings and leads the Junior class.

With the third race meeting of the season, Audi Sport Seyffarth R8 LMS Cup started its final stretch of 2021 at Hockenheimring, with just one more round left at Most.

Among the drivers aiming to move up the ranks in GT4 machinery is young German racer Vivien Schöllhorn, who showed again fast improvements in her first season - taking with two victories in the Junior class and a P4 and P6 overall in the two races at Hockenheim.

The weekend started with the battle between the four best-placed drivers in the championship: Tom Spitzenberger topped the first free practice, while Robin Rogalski set the fastest lap in free practice two. Christian Wicht, Tim Erdmann and Max Zschuppe were straight away among the fastest drivers.

And it would be Rogalski to score the first pole of the weekend, ahead of Spitzenberger and Erdmann, with Vivien Schöllhorn qualifying in P7.

The start of the first race saw Rogalski retaining the lead while Spitzenberger came together with Erdman, spun and dropped back to the end of the field. Rogalski pulled away, but behind him the field was tightly engaged in battles. Vivien Schöllhorn showed great pace, passed Zschuppe for P3 and earned second place when Erdmann received a drive through penalty because of the contact with Spitzenberger at the start of the race.

But Spitzenberger returned in the fight as he passed half of the field and forced himself past Vivien Schöllhorn - making contact with Erdmann in the process and taking advantage from that to overtake the young woman. While Spitzenberger and Erdmann battled for second, Vivien Schöllhorn had to defend her 4th place against Max Gruhn. She showed great defending skills and was able to pull away shortly before the end of the race.

In the end, Rogalski took victory ahead of Spitzenberger and Erdmann. Vivien Schöllhorn finished fourth - in her best result of the season so far - and scored the victory in the Junior class.

"I actually had a very good start, but unfortunately I couldn't overtake anyone during the start - but Tom had just spun and somebody too and we were all past them." - Schöllhorn told us.

"Then I was able to overtake Max Gruhn in the next turn, then he overtook me again later and then I overtook him again - then it worked out quite well. After that I came towards Max Zschuppe and overtook him."

"Unfortunately, I had contact with another driver, so he touched me slightly at the back, and my rear went away. I was able to continue straight away, but unfortunately I went back from second to fourth and finished there overall and P1 in Junior class" - explained Vivien Schöllhorn, satisfied by her performance.

In the second Qualifying, Spitzenberger scored pole to edge Rogalski and Wicht by a mere 0,341 seconds. Vivien Schöllhorn qualified in P8. "Unfortunately, my fastest lap was blocked in qualifying, which was very annoying and then I started from 8th place." - she recalled. Right at the start, Spitzenberger and Rogalski pulled away from the rest of the field with a great getaway off the line. In third place, Zschuppe followed, having passed Wicht and Erdmann after the first laps of the race. All five drivers had opened a small gap to each other and held positions until the end, while Erdmann was forced to retire after a puncture. Behind the leading group, Vivien Schöllhorn was busy defending her fifth place against Moritz Wurm - which she successfully did until lap 12, before Wurm could find a way past her. It was now her turn to put pressure on Wurm, but Schöllhorn couldn't then find a gap to re-claim the position. Spitzenberger won ahead of Rogalski and Zschuppe, while Vivien Schöllhorn finished the second race at Hockenheimring in sixth place. This position also meant she took back-to-back victories in the Junior class. "Unfortunately, I had a very bad start in the race, but was able to overtake two more drivers on the first lap and then I fought with Max Wurm." - said Schöllhorn. "Unfortunately, I then missed the braking point and made a mistake in the last lap before the end, where he got me - which was very annoying to finish P6 instead of P5." Vivien Schöllhorn is now leading the Junior class championship standings and will try to defend her position entering the last round of the 2021 season at Most from 8th to 10th October.