Without checkered flagg
The Sunday race of the DTM at the Lausitzring did not bring any countable success for the KÜS Team Bernhard either. Both Ayhancan Güven (25, Germany) and Laurin Heinrich (21, Germany) had to park their Porsche 911 GT3 R early.
Qualifying in the morning was quite turbulent, not least because of a red flag five minutes before the end. In the subsequent jostling of the 28 cars on the only 3487 meter long track, neither Ayhancan nor Laurin found a clear path. Can was 17th, a thousandth of a second ahead of Laurin in 18th. The distances show how close it was: 25 cars were within a second.
In the race, Laurin only managed one complete lap before he had to park his Porsche with starting number 75 after a collision. Like his team-mate, Can lost ground in the early stages and was also hit, but at least he was able to continue the race. During his mandatory pit stop, however, damage to the front axle was found, caused by "enemy contact". As a result, the nine-eleven with starting number 24 was pushed into the pits prematurely.
#24 Ayhancan Güven: “The race just didn't go as planned. From position 17 on the grid I was right in the middle of the chaos. Even after that we couldn't keep up with the leaders, but we still aimed for the points. But we just couldn't keep up the pace. We stopped late and had a bit of hope for a caution phase, but it didn't come. In view of the damage to the car, we didn't want to take any risks and parked the car. It's a shame for the team that both cars didn't finish. We will analyze that, keep working hard and come back stronger.”
#75 Laurin Heinrich: “Unfortunately, my race was very short, I retired after just one lap. We still have to analyze what exactly happened. I wanted to brake late, but then unfortunately got into the first corner too quickly and hit another car. I am very sorry about that. We didn't finish with either car, but you can also take something positive from a negative weekend. We will do that and come back stronger at the Sachsenring.”
Team boss Timo Bernhard: “A short race for Laurin. Unfortunately he hit another car, after that his car was damaged and he had to retire. Can also suffered damage early on. He was able to continue, but the pace just wasn't there anymore. We then parked the car during the pit stop.”
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)