Championship Points in Challenging Conditions for Eastalent Racing at the Lausitzring

Klettwitz/Brandenburg: Last weekend (August 19-21) was the fifth ADAC GT Masters event in Eastalent Racing’s young team history. The Lausitzring hosted the German GT3 Championship and offered a weekend filled with mixed weather conditions from sun to heavy rains. Team principal Peter Reicher comments: “This weather was a new challenge for us. All in all, we did a very good job. Every single one of us was focused and we are going into the next race weekend stronger than before.” 

Thursday’s free practice sessions revealed a gap in lap times to most competitors. While some teams previously spent two days testing at the Lausitzring, the Austrians had to embrace a steep learning curve. “We managed to quickly reduce the gap to our competitors. In fact, we were the fastest car in the first sector on Friday. Unfortunately, we lost some speed in the third sector,” driver Norbert Siedler explains.

Saturday’s rain brought a “reset”. The new conditions were so different that all experience gathered in the dry were meaningless now. Norbert Siedler looks back on the situation: “Simon did very well in qualifying under these difficult conditions. It was a challenge to start the race from 20^th position. The bumpy asphalt of the Lausitzring makes overtaking more difficult. Our race pace in the rain was good and we even drove the fifth-fasted lap time. We were a little bit off on the tire pressure, but how should we have known? We crossed the finish line in 14^th position, a solid result in the first race with unexpected conditions. 

Norbert Siedler walks us through Sunday’s series of events: “The asphalt conditions in Sunday’s qualifying tempted us to poker. The circuit was just a bit wet. We wanted to wait a bit and then join on the drying track with slicks. In retrospect, that wasn’t a good idea. We should have either gone out immediately with the slicks or first started with the rain tires and then switched to slicks. You always know more after that fact. That said, I started the final race on Sunday from 17^th off the grid. I got a very good start and advanced to 12^th or 13^th position. Although our Audi was faster than the competitor in front of me, overtaking was not possible in these difficult conditions.” Norbert Siedler’s conclusion was positive: “We finished Sunday’s race in 12^th, so we were in a better position overall than at the previous Nürburgring race. This is a step in the right direction. Two race finishes in the points thanks to a great job by the team. A big thank you to everyone.”  

Team colleague Simon Reicher also draws a positive conclusion, but also voices some constructive criticism: “We achieved the goal we set ourselves. With 14^th position on Saturday and 12^th on Sunday, we scored important points in the championship. We can certainly be satisfied with these results. However, I’m still not happy with our overall performance. We can keep up the race pace, but are not yet in a position to actively put our competitors under pressure. This needs some work and improvement. We have to become more competitive to succeed with the next step, a top ten finish.”

Next, the Austrians are headed to the penultimate round of the German GT3 Championship at the Sachsenring. The ADAC GT Masters event takes place September 23-25, 2022.