A WEEKEND AT THE TWO MOST ICONIC GERMAN TRACKS FOR TEAM WRT

A WEEKEND AT THE TWO MOST ICONIC GERMAN TRACKS FOR TEAM WRT

17/09/2020

It’s again a double commitment weekend for Team WRT, but this time all on German soil. The Belgian squad will be in action on the country’s two cradles of motor racing: the Nürburgring and the Hockenheimring.

In the Eifel, goes on stage the sixth round of the DTM, the third in a row and the second in a week at the ‘Ring: this time though it will be the shorter (3.629 km) Sprint layout which will be used. The Audi RS 5 DTM of WRT Team Audi Sport are on a mission: to wipe out the bad taste left by last weekend and go back to a positive trend.

In Baden-Württenberg, Team WRT will seek to confirm the good form shown by the Audi R8 LMS in the previous rounds of the ADAC GT Masters and remain in contention for the titles’ fight.

Team Principal Vincent Vosse: “It’s one racing weekend after the other and this is really demanding for the entire team. Actually, it will be the 12^th and 13^th race commitments in a row for the team in about 2 months time! I really want to express my appreciation for the great work everybody is doing. We have some extra pressure in the DTM, as the results are not being the ones we aim, but we are working hard to correct the situation. It is not an easy situation but I am confident we have the ability to solve the issues. I would be a happy man if that shows in the forthcoming weekend at the Nürburgring. In the ADAC GT Masters, we are in better shape but we still have a challenge, to maintain ourselves in the position in which we have started the season and continue fighting at the front. We know that in such a competitive series, nothing is granted, especially as a lot of tracks are new to us, so we have to remain very focused and do the best possible work.”

DTM

Last week, the first of the two consecutive weekends at the Nürburgring certainly did not yield the expected results. As proven in many occasions, the level of performance can be high and the potential is there; the challenge lies in reaching the needed level of performance consistency in both qualifying and race pace.

The objective for the weekend will be to correct this, qualify well and obtain good race results with the three cars, allowing the three young drivers, Ferdinand Habsburg, Harrison Newey and Fabio Scherer to get the results they are capable of.

Ferdinand Habsburg: “There is not much we can say after our first visit to the Nürburgring: we are coming back, stronger and with greater determination than ever, to do it better!” 

Harrison Newey: “We learnt a lot over the last weekend, which, of course, was not one of the easiest for Team WRT. Personally, I learnt a lot too and we tried some stuff for Race 2 that worked well and is a good basis for next weekend. I hope we will be able to translate all that into good results in this second Nürburgring weekend. The track configuration is not the same, but comparable and so should be also weather conditions”.

Fabio Scherer: “We worked hard these last days to analyze what didn’t work last weekend, solve the problems and improve. We think we can achieve much more and this what we hope to show this coming weekend.”

ADAC GT MASTERS

After a month-long break, the ADAC GT Masters is back for its third round. More than ever, the series, with its 33-car grid and a very high level, is proving its status of top national GT3 series in the European scene. The debut in the series has been very promising for Team WRT, which has taken one win at the Lausitzring and a P2 at the Nürburgring with the Skechers-livered car #32, entrusted to Audi Sport driver Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts. They currently lie fourth in the standings (and so does Team WRT in the Teams’ standings) and are determined to improve their position at Hockenheim. So is also the duo of the other car, the Bio-Circle-livered #30, Rolf Ineichen and Audi Sport driver Mirko Bortolotti, who had a more challenging start of the season but proved, if it was needed, that the pace is definitely there to challenge the top positions.

Dries Vanthoor: “We tested at the Hockenheimring a couple of weeks ago and we are well prepared. Hopefully, we can improve our Saturdays, which so far haven’t been that great, this will be important to have a good weekend, score points and stay in the fight for the titles.”

Charles Weerts: “It will be my first GT race at Hockenheim, although I know the track from Formula 4 and I remember enjoying it a lot. Let’s see how things go and let’s go for maximum points. For sure, we’ll give our best.”

Mirko Bortolotti: “Hockenheim is surely not one of my favourite race tracks, but it’s been good to me last year, when I managed to win. At the Nürburgring, in the last round, we finished fourth and were fighting for the podium until the last corner, so we will try to carry the momentum into the coming weekend.”

DTM – Round 6
Nürburgring Sprint, Germany, 18-20 September 2020

Timetable (All times = CET)

Friday 18 September 2020
13:00-13:45 Free Practice 1
16:30-17:00 Free Practice 2

Saturday 19 September 2020
10:40-11:00 Qualifying Race 1
13:33-14:28 + 1 lap Race 1

Sunday 20 September 2020
10:30-10:50 Qualifying Race 2
13:33-14:28 + 1 lap Race 2

WRT Team Audi Sport entries (Audi RS 5 DTM)
#10 Harrison Newey (GB)
#13 Fabio Scherer (CH)
#62 Ferdinand Habsburg (AT)


ADAC GT Masters – Round 3
Hockenheimring, Germany, 18-20 September 2020

Timetable (all in local time = CET)

Friday 18 September 2020

11:30-12:30 Free Practice 1
16:05-17:05 Free Practice 2

Saturday 19 September 2020
09:20-09:50 Qualifying 1

13:05-14:05 Race 1 (1 hr)

Sunday 20 September 2020
09:20-09:50 Qualifying 2
13:05-14:05 Race 2 (1 hr)

Team WRT entries (Audi R8 LMS)
#30 Mirko Bortolotti (IT) – Rolf Ineichen (CH)
#32 Dries Vanthoor (BE) – Charles Weerts (BE)

PHOTO: ITR, ADAC