Lausitzring. Fighting spirit was required from the three Schubert Motorsport drivers at the second race weekend of the DTM at the Lausitzring (GER). Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), René Rast (GER), and Marco Wittmann (GER) collected important points in both races despite problems in the qualifying sessions. Sixth place for van der Linde on Saturday and Rast on Sunday was the maximum achievable under the circumstances. In ADAC GT4 Germany, Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport triumphed with the BMW M4 GT4 .
The DTM race on Saturday was turbulent. Thunderstorms and heavy rain caused interruptions and shuffled the race results. Van der Linde coped best with the extremely difficult conditions and improved from twelfth on the grid to sixth place. Wittmann finished 13th, while Rast retired due to technical issues. On Sunday, the Schubert Motorsport drivers again performed much better in the race than in qualifying. Rast improved from 13th position to sixth place, and van der Linde even moved up from 18th on the grid to eighth place. Wittmann, who had fared best in qualifying with ninth place, also finished ninth in the race. In the drivers’ standings, van der Linde is the highest-placed BMW driver after four races with 41 points.
In ADAC GT4 Germany, Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Michael Schrey (GER) in the #2 BMW M4 GT4 from Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport celebrated their third victory in the third race of the season on Saturday. Second place went to the FK Performance Motorsport duo of Leyton Fourie (RSA) and Max Rosam (GER). On Sunday, Piana and Schrey were once again the highest-placed BMW M Motorsport crew, finishing fourth. Four more BMW M4 GT4s finished the race in the top-ten.
Comments after the races:
Björn Lellmann (Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport): “In the DTM, we experienced a difficult weekend. Especially in qualifying, we are not where we need to be if we want to have a say in the title fight. Nevertheless, we still scored well in the races, which was important. But we do not see ourselves in the midfield; our ambition is higher. Together with Schubert Motorsport, we will now prepare for Zandvoort and there launch a new attack on the top in the DTM. Things went much better for our BMW M4 GT4. I am very satisfied with the 1-2 in Saturday’s race. The experienced Piana/Schrey duo is incredible and really knows how to race successfully. But I am also particularly pleased with how strongly the young Fourie/Rosam pairing, who moved up from the BMW M2 Cup, has presented themselves here. Overall, our eight BMW M4 GT4s are a lot of fun to watch.”
Torsten Schubert (Team Principal Schubert Motorsport): “Having brought all three cars into the top-ten and scored many points for the team on Sunday is a conciliatory end to the weekend. With René Rast, we actually wanted to stay out longer, but we had to react to a slow puncture. Generally, we struggle in qualifying to get the tyres into the perfect temperature window. This costs us valuable tenths of a second, which means many places in this tight field. We definitely need to improve in this respect.”
René Rast (#33 RoboMarkets BMW M4 GT3): “Sunday was a conciliatory conclusion to this race weekend. On Saturday, I had technical issues in both qualifying and the race, so I couldn’t score any points. On Sunday, after a weak qualifying, the race went very well. Unfortunately, I had a slow puncture, and we had to adjust our strategy accordingly. Otherwise, even more than sixth place would have been possible.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#31 Shell BMW M4 GT3): “I am very happy with my races this weekend, but not at all satisfied with the qualifying. We struggled more than expected there. In the races, our pace was great, and we were able to make up a lot of ground, but if we want to fight for the podium or victories, we simply have to start further ahead.”
Marco Wittmann (#11 Schaeffler BMW M4 GT3): “It was a difficult weekend for me. On Saturday in the wet, the pace of the car was actually quite good, but unfortunately, a penalty lap after the start and a problem during the pit stop set us back and cost us points. On Sunday, qualifying went quite well, but in the race, I had problems with the balance and consequently with tyre wear so I had to defend more towards the back rather than attack forward.”