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The last two ADAC GT Masters races before the long summer break didn't go too well for the C.Abt Racing team. In spite of the best Qualifying results up until now, the team around Christian Abt left disappointed. There were temperatures of over 35 degrees: double that inside the racing cars. The weekend at the Lausitzring was a heated ordeal for fans, drivers and mechanics alike. But this didn't affect the performance of the C.Abt Racing team by any means. Nicki Thiim recorded the best Qualifying result of the season so far, and with a time of 1:20:326 he was placed second for the start; a clear view for the second race. Kelvin van der Linde, last year's champion, and Stefan Wackerbauer were very content with their sixth and eighth starting places respectively, particularly as they were ideal positions for scoring points.
But as early as the first race, the C.Abt Racing team had to accept bitter disappointment. After a tumultuous start and a resulting collision, young Bavarian Stefan Wackerbauer and his team colleague van der Linde ended their challenges prematurely. "Our training runs were good and Qualifying was also very promising", said Wackerbauer with regard to the race weekender. "Unfortunately I was hit in the first race, which is why I could not finish". The duet of Jordan Lee Pepper and Nicki Thiim ended in eleventh, only one place behind the point rankings. Christer Jöns and Andreas Weishaupt, who had technical problems in Qualifying, were compensated with third place in the Gentleman's evaluation.
C.Abt Racing's run of bad luck did not seem to end in the second race. Kelvin van der Linde started quickly and moved up to fifth, but an overtaking maneuver meant that he induced tyre damage and had to have an additional stop in the pits. "I had a very good start", said the C.Abt Racing pilot. "I had a good duel with Jens Klingmann. But it was then that I had problems with the tyre temperature and a small collision caused us to make an additional stop". Giving up was not part of the plan, and van der Linde/Wackerbauer eventually finished in twelfth. Nicki Thiim, who started from second on the grid, initially lost ground but regained his composure and a few fine duels saw him secure fourth at the end. However, a time penalty and technical problems shortly before the end of the race meant that Thiim/Pepper were finally evaluated in 14th place. "The speed was there over the whole week-end", said Jordan Lee Pepper, describing the race days at the Lausitzring. "Unfortunately we had no luck. We look forward to the next race on the Nürburgring". Christer Jöns and Gentleman driver Andreas Weishaupt finished the race early with a technical defect. "We've been tormented by failures", said a disappointed Weishaupt. "The whole C.Abt Racing team has done a fantastic job which has not paid off. I'm especially sorry for the team.
C.Abt Racing team boss and former DTM pilot Christian Abt summed it all up: "We had a difficult race weekend here. Our pace was very good, but unfortunately we were not able to show how good we are. Our run of bad luck has continued through the whole weekend. Now we will use the long summer break to analyse the weekend to be able to attack again in the second half of the season".
ADAC GT Masters says goodbye after probably the hottest weekend up to now in the series for a 6-week summer break before the season begins once again in the middle of August at the Nürburgring (14.08-16.08).