TEAM WRT HEADS TO GERMANY FOR ANOTHER EXCITING DOUBLE DTM - ADAC GT MASTERS COMMITMENT

TEAM WRT HEADS TO GERMANY FOR ANOTHER EXCITING DOUBLE DTM - ADAC GT MASTERS COMMITMENT

13/08/2020

It will be like this until mid-November… The ‘odd’ 2020 racing season, with its delayed start and its calendars compressed in little more than three months, imply that Team WRT will be busy all weekends, and generally on different fronts, as it is involved in three full race programmes in Europe. It will be again the case this coming mid-August weekend, with two important commitments in Germany.

The second round of the DTM brings contenders to the Lausitzring, the 3.478 km track which also includes an oval track and was initially built for Indycar racing. WRT Team Audi Sport will face the first of the double-header in Brandeburg (a second event is foreseen there the weekend after) with the clear intention to wipe out the difficult weekend lived at Spa in the season-opener. Ferdinand Habsburg, Harrison Newey and Fabio Sсherer are more than determined to show the full potential of the squad.

The GT3 racing start of the season could not have a sweeter taste for Team WRT, as the Belgian team has conquered so far four wins, managing to climb to the highest step of the podium on the opening event of all three series it contests: GTWCE’s Endurance and Sprint Cups and the ADAC GT Masters. The ‘German’ series is back this weekend, with its second round, scheduled at the Nürburgring. For the occasion, Team WRT will enter a third car for Benjamin Goethe and Stuart Hall, alongside the usual cars of Audi Sport driver Mirko Bortolotti and Rolf Ineichen and the Skechers-backed one of Audi Sport driver Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts.

DTM

Following a difficult start of the season on home ground, at Spa-Francorchamps, WRT Team Audi Sport is more than determined to revert the trend at the Lausitzring, where the DTM will hold its second round of the season (and also the third one week later). As Team Principal Vincent Vosse explains: “We definitely need to do much better than at Spa. We have debriefed and analyzed everything thoroughly. We know what did not work and have corrected the situation. I am sure that at the Lausitzring we will see clear improvements and we will be closer to the level we expect us to be.”

Ferdinand Habsburg: “I look forward to this second event of the year. The team did very well there last year and we should capitalize on that and the data. It will be good to learn a new track, as I have never driven on the shorter one. We analyzed the mistakes after Spa and now we are determined to get together better as a team and prove what we are capable of.”

Harrison Newey: “Spa was a little bit disappointing, but we’ll keep fighting. We worked super hard, analyzed everything and we come back stronger. I am sure the guys will give me a great car, so it’s up to me to pull out the results. It’s back to ‘normal DTM’, to a very technical track, which I almost don’t know, as I only raced there once, in F.Ford, back in 2015.”

Fabio Scherer: "The circuit is very interesting, if you get one corner wrong, you have a problem in the next one as well. It reminds me of skiing! It’s very similar and I think that is why I like this configuration of the track so much. The goal is to score points. I hope that I can achieve this in both races. We learned a lot in Spa and prepared ourselves very conscientiously for this weekend as well. In addition, we’re back to our normal schedule with one more practice session. For a rookie like me, this is certainly very valuable.”

ADAC GT Masters

On the opposite side of Germany, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Team WRT will be involved in the second round of the season of the ADAC GT Masters, which will take place on the 3.629 km configuration (shorter than the Grand-Prix one) of the Nürburgring. Following the successful series success in the series at the Lausitzring, where Dries Vanthoor-Charles Weerts managed to win Race 2, the entire team is eager to keep the momentum and collect heavy points.

“We hope to keep the momentum”, says Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse, “but it is not going to be easy, as we fight against very strong competition, and car #32 will carry 30 kgs extra of weight because of the success at the Lausitzring.” Still, the Audi R8 LMS have often proved competitive at the Nürburgring. For this round, Team WRT is stepping up its efforts by entering a third car. Alongside the usual entries of Bio-Circle car #30 (Bortolotti-Ineichen) and #32 (Vanthoor-Weerts) a third will be fielded, sporting #34, for Benjamin Goethe and Stuart Hall, whose main programme remains to be the GTWCE Endurance Cup. Here, the objective is to prepare in real-racing conditions the forthcoming Nürburgring 6 Hours and give the drivers a possibility to increase mileage with the Audi R8 LMS.

Mirko Bortolotti: "It’s a privilege to be driving with Team WRT in the ADAC GT Masters this year and to share the entry with my good friend Rolf Ineichen. I’m looking forward to the Nürburgring. The goal is to support Rolf in the best possible way, get the best possible result and to have fun!”

Charles Weerts: “We had a very good start of the season in the ADAC GT Masters and are lying third in the standings, so we’ll try our best to conquer a maximum of points. The ‘short’ Nürburgring is a track I know well, also for having raced in F.4 there, but certainly not the easiest, and we will have an heavier car, but we’ll try to take the best out of the weekend.”

Benjamin Goethe: “I’m happy to be back in my Team WRT Audi sooner than I expected. I know it won’t be easy, as ADAC GT Masters is one of the world's toughest GT championships, but I am up for the challenge. It’s a perfect opportunity to learn the track which I’ve never raced on before ahead of the 6 Hours of Nürburgring race in September.“

DTM – Round 2
Lausitzring, 14-16 August 2020

Timetable (All times = CET)

Friday 14 August 2020
13:00-13:45 Free Practice 1
16:30-17:00 Free Practice 2

Saturday 15 August 2020
10:45-11:05 Qualifying Race 1
13:33-14:28 + 1 lap Race 1

Sunday 16 August 2020
10:45-11:05 Qualifying Race 2
13:33-14:28 + 1 lap Race 2

WRT Team Audi Sport entries (Audi RS 5 DTM)
#10 Harrison Newey (GB)
#13 Fabio Scherer (CH)
#62 Ferdinand Habsburg (AT)

ADAC GT Masters – Round 2
Nürburgring, 14-16 August 2020

Timetable (All times = CET)

Friday 14 August 2020
11:15-12:15 Free practice 1
15:45-16:45 Free practice 2

Saturday 15 August 2020
09:20-09:50 Qualifying 1
13:05-14:05 Race 1

Sunday 16 August 2020
09:00-09:30 Qualifying 2
13:10-14:10 Race 2

Team WRT entries (Audi R8 LMS)
#30 Mirko Bortolotti (IT) – Rolf Ineichen (CH)
#32 Dries Vanthoor (BE) – Charles Weerts (BE)
#34 Benjamin Goethe (DE) – Stuart Hall (GB)

PHOTO: Ale Barros, ADAC