Conditions for the first practice session of the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring were wet and cold as the 100th race weekend in the Super Sports Car League got underway. Porsche driver Robert Renauer (35, GER, Precote Herberth Motorsport) coped best with the tricky conditions.
Drivers were faced with low temperatures and a wet track this Friday morning in Styria. The lead changed hands several times on a slightly drying circuit during the first half of the 45-minute practice session until Renauer set a lap time of 1.39.400 minutes that no one was able to match subsequently.
“There was still a lot of water on the track to begin with, but it gradually dissipated as the session progressed, but then rain began to fall again towards the end,” said Sven Müller, Renauer’s team mate. “Getting tyres up to temperature was a real struggle because of the damp conditions and temperatures under five degrees. It took five or six laps to build up some grip. We worked a lot on setup in order to be prepared for all weather conditions and improved consistently, so we were pleased with first practice.” Second place went to the Bentley Continental GT3 of local driver Constantin Schöll (22, AUT) and Jordan Pepper (24, ZA, both T3-HRT-Motorsport) with a 1.39.438. Mercedes-AMG drivers Indy Dontje (27, NL) and Maximilian Götz (34, GER, both Mann-Filter-Team HTP-Winward) took third place behind them with a 0.014-second deficit. Fourth place went to fellow Mercedes-AMG drivers, Luca Stolz (25, GER) and Maro Engel (35, Monte Carlo, both Toksport WRT) who are currently third in the standings. Steijn Schothorst (26, NL) and Tim Zimmermann (24, GER) completed the Top Five in the best-placed Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo prepared by GRT Grasser Racing, who are based not far from the Red Bull Ring.
PS on Air this Saturday evening
The current edition of ‘PS on Air – The Ravenol ADAC GT Masters talk-show’ will be broadcast live from the Sachsenring circuit on Saturday at 20.00 CEST. To mark this special anniversary weekend, presenter Patrick Simon will look back on previous ADAC GT Masters races, starting with the inaugural season in 2007 and revisit past events with his guests. The most important scenes from Saturday’s Super Sports Car League race will also be analysed in detail.
Source. ADAC GT Masters
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