Round 3 of the ADAC GT MASTERS is finished and it was one of the best ones I’ve had so far. I am extremely happy with the weekend. We showed great pace throughout the weekend. From Friday we knew we had a great package with Mattia and the team. It was purely about getting it done on Saturday in the qualifying, but we all misjudged the situation trying to go out late when it started to drizzle and I was unable to put the time in the dry conditions which resulted in a frustrating P17 for race 1. I wanted to do everything to fight my way forward in race 1 and to try and get a top 12 or top 10 position. I had a great start, best one so far this season, from P17 till P13 and then was able to gain more positions and then the second lap I had some contact and I lost 3 position and the race stewards thought it warranted a drive through which is a shame because that throws away your race, you’re at the back of the grid 20 seconds behind which is impossible to close. After the drive through the steam was coming out of my ears, I was pushing as hard as I could trying to get my rhythm and I was gaining 5-6 tenths every lap but it wasn’t enough. At the driver change Mattia went in, at that point other drivers already had tire failures early in the stint so we were back in the points. So we were satisfied with the damage limitation and just as we were almost putting down our headsets in the last lap Mattia had a tire puncture ending our race. Pace wise we were in the top 3 of all cars. A DNF was very disappointing at my home race.
The big advantage of ADAC GT MASTERS is of course that we get another chance on Sunday. And we knew with a clean race we could definitely get a top 10. Mattia did an awesome job in qualifying and put it in P4 in a very tight grid. There were smiles all around for the team. But the pressure was on for the race. Mattia managed the pressure well and put in a brilliant start gaining two positions. The Lamborghinis had a bit of an edge on us this weekend so congratulations to them. Maybe we get another shot this season to try to beat them. I jumped in and for me it was maintaining pace and saving the tires and finishing the race. I brought it home in P2. Super happy for the team and myself, it hasn’t been easy so far but let’s focus on the future. If we can be in the points every race and have some luck from time to time we always give it a 100% to get the best result and maybe even another podium this season.
