RACING EXPERIENCE TAKES ANOTHER TWO PODIUMS IN OSCHERSLEBEN FOR THE ADAC PROTOTYPE CUP GERMANY
Tuesday, May 30th 2023, Wormeldange-Haut
Last Weekend, the second round of the Prototype Cup Germany took place in Oschersleben with Racing Experience entering two Duqueine D08 LMP3. While the #12 car of both bronze drivers Kevin Rohrscheidt and Wolfgang Payr was aiming again for a trouble free race weekend and gaining experience and mileage, the #15 car of Markus Pommer and Gary Hauser were looking forward to extend their championship lead after the first successful weekend in Hockenheim.
A highlight of the weekend was that the Prototype Cup Germany was a support series of the DTM with more than 35.000 visitors coming to follow the racing action.
Due to software issues on Thursday, the #15 car was only able to attend two of the four training sessions, giving the competitors already an advantage before the weekend started. Both FP1 and FP2 sessions on Friday were stopped several times due to red flags, so that the testing time for #15 and #12 car was limited.
Nevertheless, Markus and Gary were very convinced about their overall pace, bringing home P3 and P4 in the two qualifying sessions on saturday and sunday morning, where both drivers struggled to set a better laptime as slower cars were hindering them from improving. The #12 car qualified P15 in both sessions.
In the race on Saturday, Markus held his position during the first stint, following the championship contender of JVO by Datalab until the pitstop. Gary came back out on track after the mandatory pitstop in P3 and was catching both of the leaders, being only 3 seconds behind. As the second placed #72 car was driven by their bronze driver and Oschersleben is a track known to be difficult to overtake, Gary was blocked behind him for several laps, losing important time to catch the leader. Putting more and more pressure on him, Gary was finally able to overtake him and a safety car ended the race in P2 for #15. Kevin and Wolfgang both had trouble-free stints and finished the race in P14.
In the second race on sunday Gary took the start and held his position, when a safety car came out on track after the first lap, as the leading car in the race caught fire. Struggling to heat the tyres sufficiently, Gary lost two positions during the safety car restart and was stuck behind two slower cars until the pistop window opened. After a perfectly timed pitstop, they were able to overtake the two cars in front during the pitstop. After coming back out of the pits, Markus did the fastest laps of the race, closing the gap to the car in P2. The leading car of DKR Engineering was the only car gaining an advantage in a FCY at the end of the pitstop window and was 40 seconds in front. Unfortunately, the time ran out and Markus ended the race in P3, only 3 seconds behind the second-placed car, bringing home a second Podium for the weekend.
The #12 car had a fantastic start, overtaking 4 cars in the opening lap, but was spun around by another driver during the safety car restart. Wolfgang and Kevin in car #12 finished the race in P12.
The #15 car now is second in the Championship (81 points), being only 5 points behind the leader of JVO by Datalab (86 points).
Christian Hauser, Racing Experience Team Owner, said, “We are happy with our overall performance, although we had some issues during testing and were not able to maximize our performance. A P2 and P3 in both races is a good result, but we keep pushing for the championship title! Our second car was also able to finish the race, improving over the weekend.”
Markus Pommer, Driver #15 Racing Experience said, “I was feeling sick during the week, especially on Thursday and Friday and I was not sure if I can step into the car for the weekend. Both results are therefore for me more than expected, but we know that we can stay on top of the podium.”
Gary Hauser, Driver #15 Racing Experience said, “For me the weekend did not feel very well in terms of my performance and some issues we had to solve during the weekend. Nevertheless finishing two times on the podium shows our overall strength this season and I am already looking forward to Zandvoort in June!”
Wolfgang Payr, Driver #12 Racing Experience said, “Oschersleben is a very challenging track and I did some improvements over the weekend. I was also able to overtake four cars during my start, but I want to improve my consistency for the next races!”
Kevin Rohrscheidt, Driver #12 Racing Experience said, “The team did an amazing job over the weekend and was able to help Wolfgang and me to improve the laptimes. I know that there is still some work to do, but we are on the right path!”
The next race of the season will take place again in the course of the DTM on the 23th – 25th June 2023 on the F1 circuit in Zandvoort.
All races of the season will be live broadcasted on YouTube as well as on adac.de/motorsport.
The full calendar of the season can be found on racing-experience.lu. Stay updated by following Racing Experience on social media (Instagram: @racingexperience.lux and Facebook).