In the ADAC GT Masters, Team Car Collection Motorsport experienced a mixed start to the season. In the fiercely contested “league of super sportscars” the squad from Walluf, which entered two Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 cars, struggled for midfield positions on Saturday after bad luck in qualifying and remained without points. Things went better for the #33 car and drivers Thierry Vermeulen and Mattia Drudi on Sunday when they scored their first points of the season with ninth place.
Saturday
The first round of the 2022 ADAC GT Masters at Oschersleben ended in midfield at the back for Team Car Collection Motorsport. In the morning, newcomer Thierry Vermeulen in the Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 started his first qualifying session in the ADAC GT Masters. Over the course of the session, the Dutchman in Red Bull Verstappen.com Racing livery steadily improved and had just reached the tire peak where the fastest laps are possible when an interruption to the session put an end to his efforts. A similar fate befell Florian Spengler in the #69 Audi, who briefly went off the track earlier and was thus also caught cold by the red flag. Starting positions 17 (Spengler) and 19 (Vermeulen) did not bode well for a good race result.
In the race, the two starting drivers Spengler and Vermeulen were able to hold their own and make up places despite tough duels. Even after switching to their partners Winkelhock and Drudi, they were in a midfield battle group and crossed the finish line in positions 15 and 17.
Sunday
On Sunday morning, the two Audi Sport drivers Mattia Drudi (#33) and Markus Winkelhock (#69) were in demand in qualifying. The Italian Drudi qualified in a strong eighth place. Winkelhock finished 15th after a difficult session.
At the start, Mattia Drudi was able to maintain his grid position, while Winkelhock dropped back one place. Once again it became clear that overtaking at Oschersleben is extremely difficult. Ex-F1 driver Markus Winkelhock managed it anyway and made up for his lost place on the track. He subsequently managed even more overtaking maneuvers. Drudi handed over the #33 to Thierry Vermeulen, who subsequently engaged in a fierce duel with a Mercedes that lasted many laps. After contact, the Dutchman had to let his opponent go shortly before the end and crossed the finish line in ninth place. Spengler, who had meanwhile taken over from Winkelhock, finished in 15th place.
Despite the mixed results, the top-10 finish of the #33 gives hope for the rest of the season. Youngster Thierry Vermeulen proved in his first ever GT3 races that he is rightly in the starting field of the “German GT Championship” and put in a steep learning curve. The race pace of both cars on Sunday was promising and makes the team optimistic for the upcoming races.
Podium finish after turbulent 12h race in Spa for Car Collection Motorsport
At the 12h race at Spa-Francorchamps as part of the 24h Series the Audi R8 LMS evo II GT3 with the #34 and the drivers Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, Max Edelhoff and Tim Müller could celebrate a podium success in the GT3-AM class with a third place despite several punctures. The race went less well for the Lionspeed-designed Audi R8 LMS GT4 and drivers José Garcia, Patrick Kolb and rallycross star Andreas Bakkerud. The trio was slowed by a defect in the second half of the race, had to make a longer repair stop and thus only finished fifth in the GT4 class.
Foto Credits: Michael Ehrensperger, Roland Hasenmüller, Christopher Otto, Petr Fryba.