Twice top ten in the heat battle
The KÜS Team Bernhard from Landstuhl achieved two top ten results in the heat battle at the Norisring in the Saturday DTM race. Ayhancan Güven (25, Germany) finished fifth in the number 24 Porsche 911 GT3 R, Laurin Heinrich (21, Germany) after an impressive catch-up in the number 75 sister car, finished tenth and made it into the top-ten.
After strong performances in the free practice sessions - Ayhancan was second, just a thousandth of a second behind the best time, Laurin turned the fifth fastest lap of the day - the two Team75 drivers fought for starting positions in different qualifying groups. This mode was specifically chosen for the Norisring because of the track's length of just 2.162 kilometers and the large starting field of 27 cars. "Can" was second as the fastest Porsche driver in his group and started from position three. Laurin's sixth place in the group gave him starting position twelfth.
Laurin had a lot of bad luck very early on in the race. Immediately after the first corner, when he had already made up ground, he was pushed into the wall by a competitor, slashing a tire in the process. Laurin got new rubber in the pits and started chasing forwards from last place. The effort should be worth it, in the end the fastest lap, tenth place and six championship points were recorded in a race that seemed to end early.
Ayhancan wasn't satisfied with third place on the grid and grabbed second place in the first corner. He was able to defend this top position up to the mandatory pit stop despite the safety car phase and the fiercely following competition. After his stop, he lost a bit of ground with cold tires, but in the end he still managed fifth place and eleven championship points.
#24 Ayhancan Güven: “We had a good start to a good race from third place and immediately improved to second place. The safety car brought the cars behind us back up, but we were able to hold onto our good second place until the pit stop. We weren't the fastest team at the change, so we were fifth after the pit stop window. That's still very good points and is the best team result so far this season. But of course I'm also a bit disappointed because the podium would have been possible. But that's not a problem. We are analyzing it now and we will be stronger tomorrow.”
#75 Laurin Heinrich: “It was quite a turbulent race. I knew that a lot could happen from twelfth on the grid. Unfortunately, I was pushed against the wall by a competitor in the first corner and had to pit with a slashed tyre. I thought it was over. But with a super stop by the team, I was able to stay on the lead lap and, thanks to the safety car, I was able to catch up with the field again. From then on, we only went up from last place into the top ten, so we picked up good points. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and hoping for a better qualifying.”
Team boss Timo Bernhard: “The Norisring always has surprises in store. All in all, our goal was to get both cars into the points. We did that too with fifth and tenth place. Laurin was hit right at the beginning, had a puncture, after that he was last. With a great strategy and the fastest race lap, he moved up to tenth place. A huge catch-up race, that was great. Can was second for more than half of the race and was on course for the podium. After the pit stop, he was unable to keep up with some of his competitors due to cold tires and dropped back to fifth place. It's a bit of a shame, we were close to the podium. In any case, the pace was good, now we’ll see tomorrow whether we can finally make it onto the podium.”
Text: Peter Schäffner
Photos: Group C Photography (high-resolution images are listed in the Team75 Motorsport press portal. Access data available from presse@team75motorsport.de)