TEAM WRT DETERMINED TO ENCORE AT THE DTM'S SECOND EVENT AT ZOLDER AND CONTINUE POSITIVE TREND IN THE ADAC GT MASTERS

TEAM WRT DETERMINED TO ENCORE AT THE DTM'S SECOND EVENT AT ZOLDER AND CONTINUE POSITIVE TREND IN THE ADAC GT MASTERS

15/10/2020

After a great weekend, where Team WRT clinched the Teams’ and Drivers’ titles in the GTWCE Sprint Cup and signed an excellent team performance in the DTM, the Belgian squad is back to a double commitment this weekend, again in the DTM and the GT3 scene.

The DTM is not travelling this time, as it stayed at Zolder for the second part of the double-header scheduled on the Belgian track. It will already be the eighth event and the last before the traditional finale at Hockenheim. Ferdinand Habsburg, Harrison Newey and Fabio Scherer, the three drivers of WRT Team Audi Sport, are boosted after their good collective performance last week and determined to capitalize on that to do even better this weekend.

In GT3, it is the ADAC GT Masters that goes on stage this time, with the traditional visit to the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor, fresh Champions in the GTWCE Sprint Cup, will seek to stay in the race for the title also in the German series, and alongside Mirko Bortolotti-Rolf Ineichen, will go after a maximum of points for Team WRT.

Team Principal Vincent Vosse reflects: “In the DTM, we have proven last weekend that we can be with the front-runners and that we can score points in both races and with all our cars. We aim at doing it consistently and I am hopeful about this coming weekend at Zolder. I have in mind an objective, but will not tell it, out of superstition. In the ADAC GT, we go to the Red Bull Ring, which is certainly not the easiest for our cars. But we need to do as well as we can also there and score points for the championships.”

DTM

Almost nothing is ‘as usual’ in the 2020 season, and the reshuffling of dates and venues has provided a race calendar that includes some peculiarities, like having three times a ‘home race’, which is what happening in the DTM for WRT Team Audi Sport. After Spa, Circuit Zolder is under the spotlight again, for the second week in a row and using the same (and only available) layout of 4.011 kms.

The track in Limburg, with its old-style characteristics, is much to the liking of today’s drivers and has left positive feelings last weekend to the Belgian squad, which performed its best team result since its debut in the series last year. With five points finishes out of six and a top-4 in qualifying, there is an excellent basis to do well again and improved the results

achieved. The entire team was convinced that without weather conditions so changing, especially in qualifying, it could have done even better, and the objective for next weekend is to be perfectly ready to perform no matter what the skies decide. Ferdinand Habsburg, Harrison Newey and Fabio Scherer are certainly boosted by their good performance last weekend.

Ferdinand Habsburg: “I aim at focusing on the Q2 performance of last weekend and at keeping that form consistently. If I can qualify in the first two rows and have clean races, the aim of my first podium and the team’s first podium could happen at home race. It would be a dream come true, and I definitely feel from last weekend that this can be in the cards. We need to improve on what didn’t go that well and nail it in this second event at Zolder.”

Harrison Newey: “Obviously, we had a strong weekend, and we look on building on that. The aim at scoring on both races on the same weekend was there for a while, we made it and we want to repeat it. It was my first time at Zolder, so I go back there with some experience this weekend. The objective is to go as quick as possible, and finish the races as high as possible. The track is awesome, it’s cool not to have massive run-offs, just the kerb, some grass and the wall. It’s a big change from what we see these days and we really appreciate it.”

Fabio Scherer: "We had a good weekend and good results at Zolder, and I definitely think we have a good potential in our pockets for next weekend for our second visit there. We need to qualify higher, we worked well on the dry, we need to do better on wet track, and we have been working on that. I am confident we can have a good weekend and good results again.”

ADAC GT Masters

The ADAC GT Masters is traveling East for its fifth round of the season: it’s the Red Bull Ring hosting the series. The 4.318 kms track near Spielberg and Zeltweg, in the pre-alpine landscape of Styria, is a modern venue but the track has kept all the essence of the the old Österreichring. This year, ADAC GT Masters will live in Austria (on Sunday) its 200^th race, always a milestone, and enjoy the presence of 3000 spectators each day, something to be valued in current times.

For Team WRT, the focus will be on the championship, as this event (the third-last) will be crucial for staying in the titles battles. While having achieved a podium finish in each event so far, the competitiveness of the series is such that the Belgian squad is currently fourth in the standings, 17 points from the lead. In the Drivers’ standings, Charles Weerts and Audi Sport driver Dries Vanthoor, in the #32 Skechers-livered car, are fifth, 41 points behind the leaders. Fresh from the GTWCE Sprint Cup title conquered last weekend, they should be boosted to reduce the gap. In the other car, the Bio-Circle-livered #30, Rolf Ineichen will be joined again by his usual team mate, Audi Sport driver Mirko Bortolotti, who had to miss the last round as he was racing the Indy 8 Hours. It will be almost ‘home race’ for Mirko, who lives in Austria, where he spent part of his childhood.

Charles Weerts: “We are back to the ADAC GT Masters this weekend and to the Red Bull Ring. It has never been the most suited track for the Audi, but we will try to get the maximum out of the circumstances and hopefully, we’ll have a weekend with good results.”

Dries Vanthoor: “I expect a tough weekend at the Red Bull Ring, which, for sure, is not the strongest track for our cars. We will be fighting at the front, but I don’t think we will be the fastest. Still, we have to deliver the best we can and bring home the best results possible.”

Mirko Bortolotti: “I’m looking forward to be back in the ADAC GT Masters after missing last round because of a clash. Spielberg is a kind of home race for me as I live in Austria. The track however will be a tough task for our car do to the long straights, so I hope for heavy rain on the weekend to compensate the disadvantage.”

DTM – Round 8
Circuit Zolder, Belgium, 16-18 October 2020

Timetable (All times = CET)

Friday 16 October 2020
13:00-13:45 Free Practice 1
16:30-17:00 Free Practice 2
Saturday 17 October 2020
10:35-10:55 Qualifying Race 1
13:33-14:28 + 1 lap Race 1
Sunday 18 October 2020
10:30-10:50 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 5
Red Bull Ring, Austria, 16-18 October 2020

Timetable (all in local time = CET)

Friday 16 October 2020

10:05-10:50 Free Practice 1
15:40-16:30 Free Practice 2

Saturday 17 October 2020
09:00-09:30 Qualifying 1

13:05-14:05 Race 1 (1 hr)
Sunday 18 October 2020
09:00-09:30 Qualifying 2
13:05-14:05 Race 2 (1 hr)

Team WRT entries (Audi R8 LMS)
#30 Mirko Bortolotti (IT) - Rolf Ineichen (CH)
#32 Dries Vanthoor (BE) – Charles Weerts (BE)

PHOTO: Audi Sport, ADAC GT Masters