Two podium finishes for AVIA W&S Motorsport at ADAC GT4 Germany season opener at Oschersleben

For the first race on Saturday Max Kronberg and Hendrik Still in the Rodopi Porsche Cayman GT4 #30 qualified for the 22nd starting position. The GEDORE Porsche Cayman GT4 #31, driven by David Jahn and Jannes Fittje, started the one-hour race from ninth position. The two youngsters Finn Zulauf and Daniel Gregor took up the sprint in the AVIA racing Porsche Cayman GT4 #75 from 13th position. 

Fittje maintained his position in the turbulent start phase and defended himself with a cool head. Gregor was already able to gain three places in the first laps, Kronberg also made up positions before he was hit on the rear and had to re-sort himself in 24th place. All three driver changes went smoothly and the timing of the pit stop was perfectly chosen by Team AVIA W&S Motorsport. 

In the second half of the race David Jahn in the GEDORE Porsche Cayman GT4 #31 showed an impressive recovery and crossed the finish line in fifth place and thus as the best Porsche. Zulauf crossed the finish line in eighth place in the AVIA racing Porsche Cayman GT4 #75 and the two young talents Daniel Gregor and Finn Zulauf collected their first important points with fifth place in the Junior classification. Still was crossed the line in 14th place after a brilliant catch-up in the second half and secured victory in the Trophy classification.

For the second race on Sunday afternoon, Hendrik Still qualified in the green Rodopi Porsche Cayman GT4 #30 for fifth place on the grid. He skilfully steered the car through the start phase, which was marked by tough but fair battles. In fifth position he handed over the Porsche Cayman GT4 #30 to Max Kronberg. After all the competitors had completed the compulsory stops with driver changes, Kronberg was in twelfth place, which he was able to defend skilfully until the chequered flag. With second place, the man from Berlin was delighted with further Trophy points and leads the Trophy standings after the first race weekend.

The GEDORE Porsche Cayman GT4 #31 with David Jahn in the cockpit started from second place, just 0.038 seconds behind the pole setter, after a strong and hard-fought qualifying. David Jahn drove a commanding race from the first lap, defended his podium position and handed over the GEDORE Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport #31 to Jannes Fittje in second place. For a long time, Fittje matched the performance of his cockpit colleague and was able to hold on to the lead. Ultimately fighting with blunt weapons against the competition, Jannes Fittje crossed the finish line in sixth place overall.

Finn Zulauf in the AVIA racing livery #75 started from 18th place on the points chase and gained four positions on the first lap. He then had to defend his position in the midfield as well as continue to put pressure on the competitors in front of him. Daniel Gregor then took over the wheel of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport #75, was able to keep up with the pace of the field and passed the black-white-chequered flag in 13th place. After the first two races, the two youngsters occupy fourth place in the Junior standings.

In four weeks' time, races three and four will be held at Circuit Zandvoort on the Dutch North Sea coast from 23-25 June 2023. 

Quotes after the race 

Daniel Schellhaas, Team Principal AVIA W&S Motorsport: "After difficult weeks which lie behind us, we are happy about the great team performance and that all cars always finished. The bar in the ADAC GT4 Germany is set very high. The lap times in practice and qualifying were close together and were promising for us. In the races, the Porsche Cayman GT4s couldn't quite match the pace of the competition, but we were always the fastest Porsche in the field. Our drivers did a strong job at the wheel to get the maximum results in the end. We were all able to learn a lot and I think the track in Zandvoort will suit our cars again. AVIA W&S Motorsport can hopefully challenge for the win there. Thanks to our whole team for their unwavering hard and professional work to get us so far ahead!"

Max Kronberg, Driver #30: "On both days, Hendrik and I were able to hold our own in the field and were rewarded accordingly with victory and second place in the Trophy. Thanks to the great work of the whole team, we will travel to Zandvoort for the next race as championship leaders. However, the season is still long and we will not rest on our points but continue to attack in order to get points in the overall championship as well."

David Jahn, Driver #31: "The first GT4 races together with Jannes went well. The start from the front row on Sunday showed that we are fast. However, we had to fight hard in the races to chase the opponents with other brands. Fifth and sixth place and the corresponding points are a solid start to the season that we can build on and our course remains clear: always towards the podium!" 

Finn Zulauf, Driver #75: "Both races on the first ADAC GT4 Germany weekend of the year unfortunately didn't go as we had hoped. Eighth and 13th place ultimately didn't meet our expectations, even though we were able to collect our first points. Daniel drove two strong races and the car remained almost without scratches. We will now analyse everything again with AVIA W&S Motorsport and learn from this in order to be able to drive at the front in the next races."