FRUSTRATION IN ENGLAND, SATISFACTION IN GERMANY

FRUSTRATION IN ENGLAND, SATISFACTION IN GERMANY

05/05/2019

• Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe outing at Brands Hatch marred with incidents, Davies-Gamble and Weerts-Mies take best result, with a 6^th place each
• Good pace and solid performance at DTM debut in Hockenheim, Pietro Fittipaldi scores first DTM point for team WRT in Race 

It definitely was a contrasting weekend for Team WRT. While the Audis R8 LMS of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT lived a frustrating weekend in Brands Hatch for the opening round of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe series, WRT Team Audi Sport had a very positive and encouraging debut in the DTM at Hockenheim, with the Audi RS 5 DTM of the Belgian squad scoring its first point in the terribly demanding series.

Changing weather conditions and incidents brought to poor qualifying at Brands Hatch, a handicap difficult to overcome in the British narrow track. The races will bring more frustration and reach climax with three cars of the team out of Race 2 in the early stages. At the end, thee cars made it to the points with 6^th twice as best results, for Shae Davies-Tom Gamble (Race 1) and Christopher Mies-Charles Weerts (Race 2).

At Hockenheim, WRT Team Audi Sport lived a much encouraging maiden weekend in the DTM, which yielded a first point, thanks to P10 of Pietro Fittipaldi, a result that could have even been better, as both the Brazilian and Jonathan Aberdein proved good pace and visited the Top-10 during both races. Being a rookie team in such a competitive series, though, entails having to learn many strings…

Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe

The weekend started with changing weather conditions, but all four cars made it to the top-15 in the free practice sessions. Qualifying for Race 1 saw car #1, with Pérez-Companc, take the best spot (P8), ahead of Davies (P11), Tunjo (P13) and Weerts (P15). Unfortunately, Qualifying 2 was going to be marked by some drama, as Christopher Mies in car #2 saw his session ruined when he was hit by another car on the slippery track. This prompted the red flag, and when the session resumed, the track was even wetter, which meant that Dries Vanthoor and Rik Breukers could not improve and had to cope with 22^nd and 19^th, respectively. Only car #17, with Tom Gamble, had qualified an excellent 9^th in the initial, and drier, part of the session.

Race 1 started with a first-corner multiple accident, which obliged Pérez-Companc to run wide in the gravel to avoid spinning cars ahead of him. The Argentine was 20^th at the end of first full race lap after the safety-car period and started climbing back positions. The best-placed car of the team was #17, in P6 with Shae Davies, with Oscar Tunjo 9^th and Charles Weerts 10^th. These three cars pitted in lap 17, with Companc staying on track as much as he could to regain positions. He pitted in lap 20, with Vanthoor rejoining in P11 and posting the fastest lap. Sadly, he had to serve a drive-through for an earlier infringement under yellow flags. He would eventually finish in P11, right ahead of Christopher Mies. The German was 5^th when he suffered a puncture. With Tom Gamble at the wheel, car #17 crossed the line 6^th and Breukers 9^th. The solid race of cars #17 and #10 meant P2 and P3 on the podium of the Silver Cup.

Race 2 was going to be disappointing since the start for the Belgian squad: at the start, Tom Gamble, with four cars abreast ahead of him, could not avoid contact, and car #17 suffered damage in the front, retiring in the pits. Mies, Breukers and Vanthoor were racing one behind the other, in positions 16, 17 and 18, when a collective accident happened in front of them; only Mies could avoid cars spinning and debris, while Breukers and Vanthoor were collected by other cars and sent into the barriers. Car #2 continued its race with no more hiccups, and Charles Weerts with a great second stint was able to take an excellent final P6. Latest satisfaction was to see Belgian Audi Club Team WRT’s car #2 crew take the Pirelli Pit Stop Challenge.

Dries Vanthoor: “Of course, not a good weekend for us. It’s a pity, because the car was going well and we had good pace, but we were unlucky in qualifying, and even more in the races. In both cases, Ezequiel in Race 1 and me in Race 2, were left with nowhere to go… It’s just quite unlucky. Let’s look ahead to the next race.”

Charles Weerts: “It was my first time at Brands Hatch, so I knew it was going to be challenging and because of the weather, I didn’t have many laps on dry track before qualifying. Then, there was this accident for Chris in Q2. Still, I think we recovered well in the races. In Race 1, we could have finished 4^th without a puncture, and in Race 2, we climb back from the back of the grid to P6, it’s not bad.”

DTM

At Hockenheim, emotions ran high during the entire weekend, as WRT Team Audi Sport made its debut in the DTM and lived a very eventful weekend, which left though a very positive feeling. The team managed to score its first point and showed good pace, although he certainly paid his lack of experience in the series.

The weekend started positively, with Pietro Fittipaldi 1in both free practice sessions and Jonathan Aberdein an impressive 4^th in FP1. They posted the 15^th and 16^th times in a wet Qualifying for Race 1, with the car of the South-African having to be taken out of parc fermé for repairs following a contact. Race 1, in treacherous conditions, saw a solid race from both youngsters, with Pietro Fittipaldi crossing the line in tenth and earning his and the team’s first point. Jonathan Aberdein was also close to the points but finished 15^th after some fierce fighting with Green.

On Sunday, with the track back to dry, Aberdein qualified 12^nd, right ahead of Fittipaldi. Both had an excellent start of Race 2, with Fittipaldi up to 7^th by lap 10, after a short safety-car period. Unfortunately the Brazilian had to serve a drive-through for an earlier contact with a rival. Aberdein as well made it to P7 by lap 17, but a longer pit stop, as he came across some issue at restart, made him drop to P15, running almost door-to-door with Fittipaldi.

The South African eventually took a final P12, with the Brazilian finishing 15^th after a third stop to change tires, but with the fastest lap of the race under his belt.

Vincent Vosse (Team Principal): “I am very happy of the DTM weekend, and the results could have been even better. Still, we showed good pace for a first outing, we score our first point, and our two young guns have made quite an impression. The entire team has worked perfectly, and I am very proud of everybody. Considering that before the debut, we only had four days of testing with one car, we can be pretty happy. It is clear that we still have a lot of work to do, and mostly, a lot of experience to gain. This is something you can’t buy, you just have to go through things and learn. It is about strategy, how rules apply and many other details, but we will get there!”.

Jonathan Aberdein: “It is been a positive weekend. We showed good pace over the three days; obviously, we lack experience, it was difficult to put all things together, but it is just the first weekend and we already look forward to the second one. In Race 1, on the wet, it was going very well, but I made a wrong choice of tires, it was too early for slicks. We will learn from all that.”

Pietro Fittipaldi: “We have been pretty competitive, very close to Top-10 and the Top-5 at some times. I scored one point in Race 1, and I could have been two positions higher if I had pitted earlier. In Race 2, I didn’t have a good start, but was much better at the restart. Unfortunately, a contact in turn 6 cost me a drive-through. We missed an opportunity to take 7^th or 8^th, but towards the end of the race, with fresh tires, I could take the fastest lap. The team did a great job, it’s a good start.”

Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe – Round 1
Brands Hatch, United Kingdom, 4-5 May 2019

Race 1 results:

1. Bastian-Neubauer (Mercedes AMG) 39 laps
2. Stolz-Engel (Mercedes AMG) + 2s003
3. Bortolotti-Engelhart (Lambo Huracan) +10s200
4. Abril-Marciello (Mercedes AMG) +20s347
5. K.Vander Linde-Schmid (Audi R8 LMS) +22s103

6. Davies-Gamble (Audi R8 LMS) +22s597
9. Breukers-Tunjo (Audi R8 LMS) +34s404

11. Companc-Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS) +41s399
12. Weerts-Mies (Audi R8 LMS) +44s530

Race 2 results:

1. Stolz-Engel (Mercedes AMG) 39 laps

2. Caldarelli-Mapelli (Lambo Huracan) +11s643

3. S.Schothorst-Foster (Audi R8 LMS) +14s190

4. Abril-Marciello (Mercedes AMG) +15s164

5. K.Vander Linde-Schmid (Audi R8 LMS) +17s168

6. Mies-Weerts (Audi R8 LMS) +20s369
DNF Breukers-Tunjo (Audi R8 LMS) 6 laps (accident)

DNF Companc-Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS) 6 laps (accident)
DNF Davies-Gamble (Audi R8 LMS) 1 lap (accident)

DTM - Round 1
Hockenheimring, Germany, 3-5 May 2019

Race 1 Result
1.Marco Wittman (BMW) 34 laps
2. Mike Rockenfeller (Audi) +13s727
3. Robin Frijns (Audi) +34s681
4. Timo Glock (BMW) +37s407
5. Loïc Duval (Audi) +1m03s387
10. Pietro Fittipaldi (Audi) +1m31s843

15. Jonathan Aberdein (Audi) +1 lap

Race 1 Result
1.René Rast (Audi) 37 laps
2. Nico Müller (Audi) +11s922
3. Robin Frijns (Audi) +12s184
4. Philipp Eng (BMW) +17s952
5. Bruno Spengler (BMW) +22s729
12. Jonathan Aberdein (Audi) +58s396

15. Pietro Fittipaldi (Audi) +1 lap

Photo: Audi Sport, Patrick Hecq Photography