The second event of the DTM season took place at Lausitzring this weekend. Laurens Vanthoor (BEL) and Dennis Olsen (NOR) showed a strong performance.
Race 1
SSR Performance was highly motivated for the first qualifying session at the Lausitzring. After results that weren’t ideal, with Dennis Olsen and Laurens Vanthoor on 11th and 22nd place respectively, the team started the race. Contact on the first lap forced the #94 to chase the field from the back. The sister car managed to make up a few positions in the early stages. The crew of the Porsche 911 GT3 R decided to pit early. For Olsen the race ended with 14 minutes remaining. For safety reasons resulting from the events of the first lap, the crew parked the vehicle. Laurens Vanthoor crossed the finish line on seventh place, claiming important championship points with him.
Race 2
Qualifying on Sunday initially looked positive for Dennis Olsen. Lying on P2, the red flag was waved when one of the cars in the field burst into flames. After a short break, the session continued with four minutes remaining. The Norwegian and his Belgian team-mate finished the session on P13 and P17. In the race, the team showed on the 4.601 km long track that it can keep up with its opponents. After a good initial phase, the cars showed exciting duels. Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor secured the second top-10 placement of the weekend and proved that the racing pace in the 911 is on point. Dennis Olsen ended up eleventh. In both races, SSR Performance had the strongest Porsche in the top-class DTM field of 29 vehicles.
The next DTM weekend will take place from June 17th to 19th in Imola, Italy.
Mario Schuhbauer, Team Principal SSR Performance
“Unfortunately our qualifying sessions weren’t on point. In the race we were very strong again and the best Porsche in the field. Laurens and Dennis showed that we can fight our way up. We have deficits that we have to get rid of in the next race. We are looking forward to Imola and want to show our full potential there.”
Maike Frik, Team Manager SSR Performance
“The drivers and team showed a good performance this weekend. Unfortunately, the red flag caused some problems in Sunday’s qualifying. The pace in the race was there, so now it’s time to analyze the last few days and fully attack in Imola.”
Laurens Vanthoor, #92 Driver SSR Performance
“Unfortunately, qualifying wasn’t as hoped. On Sunday we also had bad luck with the red flag and a problem with the radio system. We showed a good performance in both races and I was able to finish in the top-ten twice. I’m still not satisfied with the performance. We have to keep working and do better next time.”
Dennis Olsen, #94 driver SSR Performance
“It was a difficult weekend at the Lausitzring. The qualifying performance was okay. We were always the strongest Porsche. In the end, the results are still disappointing. We were able to learn a lot and have to manage to qualify better next time and finish in the points.”
Race 1 results DTM Lausitzring 1. #31 Sheldon van der Linde // Schubert Motorsport // BMW
2. #4 Luca Stolz // Mercedes-AMG Team HRT // Mercedes
3. #22 Lucas Auer // Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD // Mercedes
7. #92 Laurens Vanthoor // SSR Performance // Porsche
DNF #94 Dennis Olsen // SSR Performance // Porsche
Race 2 results DTM Lausitzring 1. #51 Nico Müller // Team Rosberg // Audi
2. #88 Maro Engel // Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing // Mercedes
3. #33 Rene Rast // Team Abt // Audi
9 . #92 Laurens Vanthoor // SSR Performance // Porsche
11. #92 Dennis Olsen // SSR Performance // Porsche
Team championship after Lausitzring 1. Schuber Motorsport // 79 points
2. Mercedes-AMG Team Winward // 59 points
3. Team ABT // 57 points
8. SSR Performance // 28 points
Driver championship after Lausitzring 1. Sheldon van der Linde // 65 points
2. Mirko Bortolotti // 51 points
3. Lucas Auer // 48 points
10. Laurens Vanthoor // 18 points
16. Dennis Olsen // 10 points
Source. SSR Performance
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