HEICO scores points with four Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 03.04.2012: ... in the first Race of the new ADAC GT MASTERS season in Oschersleben

... in the first Race of the new ADAC GT MASTERS season in Oschersleben


ADAC GT Masters, Oschersleben (DEU) 30 March - 1 April 2012
 

 
Nearly 13,000 spectators came to watch 40 dream sports cars compete for points in the Motorsportarena.
 

This season, the HEICO Motorsport team competes in four Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3. The SLS #10 is branded with logos of the new partner, SCHÖNER WOHNEN Polarweiss, and pilots Lance David Arnold (DEU) and Alexandros Margaritis (DEU) share the car.


Kenneth Heyer (DEU) and Christiaan Frankenhout (NDL) share car #7 and Hari Proczyk (AUT) and Dominik Baumann (AUT) share the GIZE Mercedes Benz. Andreas Simonsen (SWE) and Maximilian Buhk (DEU) share car #9 for the HEICO Junior Team.
 


This ADAC GT Masters season sees some new and positive regulations, including the extension of the two qualifying sessions from 20 to 40 minutes each. The result being that the close field of cars opens up a little, mainly because each pilot may only complete a maximum of eight laps.


Furthermore, the GT Masters series has a new partner for tyres, YOKOHAMA. The times are measured by Swisstiming this season. They obviously had a lot of difficulties because the displays were wrong, incomplete or missing.
 

The free practice sessions were affected by freak weather. Sudden rain and strong gusts of wind abruptly changed the track conditions. The drive shaft of the GIZE SLS broke during the first session. However, the team was able to repair it quickly and not too much time was lost. The HEICO team made ideal use of the two sessions adjusting the tyres and the set-up to the track in the Boerde.
 


During the qualifying sessions it became clear that better places were absolutely possible. Despite the results of the qualifying sessions the HEICO pilots were confident about the races of the weekend.
 

Shortly before the formation of the starting grid for the first race of the season on Saturday it started to rain heavily. However, it quickly stopped again and strong gusts of wind dried parts of the track. This resulted in a tyre gamble for the teams. The SLS (#8) with Hari Proczyk in the cockpit was the only car with slick tyres for the race. Cars #9 and #10 were not positioned correctly in the starting grid and received a drive-through penalty.


Despite the close field of cars the start went smoothly and the HEICO SLS’ were able to make the best of the start.


Lance David Arnold in the SCHÖNER WOHNEN Polarweiss Mercedes Benz (#10) gained six places in the first lap. When it became necessary to exchange the wet tyres with slick tyres in the fourth lap coordination with the team proved difficult due to problems with the radio. Margaritis took over after the first half and drove the Mercedes across the finish line without scoring points.


The junior team (#9) with Andreas Simonsen (SWE) in the cockpit started from P13 and finished the first lap in P8. However, several places were lost due to the change from wet to slick tyres and the drive-through penalty. Having dropped to the back of the field, Simonsen/Buhk battled and moved up to P20 again.


The German/Dutch duo Heyer/Frankenhout (#7) started the race from P24 with wet tyres and finished the first lap in P18. Since parts of the track dried quickly, an additional pit stop was inevitable. Back on the track, they were able to gain places and finished the race in P15.


The Austrian duo Proczyk/Baumann used slick tyres at the start of the race and won the tyre gamble. They were rewarded with P6, 8 championship points and were the best SLS in the field.
 

On Sunday the weather had considerably approved right in time for the second ADAC GT Masters race. All four HEICO Motorsport duos reached the Top10 in the race. Arnold/Margaritis started from P24 and reached the ninth place, scoring 2 points each.


Simonsen/Buhk finished in P5 with ten points each. Baumann/Proczyk managed to repeat their success of the previous day, winning P6 and 8 points each. Just like the other members of their team, Heyer/Frankenhout also succeeded in the second race of the season, finishing in P7 and scoring 6 points each.
 

All drivers were pleased after some initial difficulties and are confident for the second racing weekend.

Team principal Norbert Brückner:


“Our performance was good and we are definitely on the right track. I am pleased with the result of the first racing weekend.


With all the new regulations and modifications there are still things that need to be smoothed out. For example, we did not get the tyres we wanted and the new partner responsible for measuring the time caused a lot of chaos. The lap times were often displayed incorrectly.


However, now we are looking forward to the next race ".
 
  
 
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