Podium and bad luck for W&S; Motorsport at ADAC GT4 Germany season opener at Oschersleben 26.04.2022: Three Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 in the pits at Oschersleben W&S; Motorsport experienced a weekend of ups and downs at the ADAC GT4 Germany season opener at Oschersleben. In the first race on Saturday, Nicolaj Møller Madsen a

Three Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 in the pits at Oschersleben


W&S Motorsport experienced a weekend of ups and downs at the ADAC GT4 Germany season opener at Oschersleben. In the first race on Saturday, Nicolaj Møller Madsen and Finn Zulauf in the AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport #31 narrowly missed out on a podium finish, crossing the line in fourth place as the best Porsche car in the field. German young talent Zulauf finished second best junior driver and claimed his first podium finish in the junior category this year.


The duo of Møller Madsen/Zulauf had an impressive race in the top-class series and fought for a podium position until the chequered flag dropped. Møller Madsen gained two positions after the start and had already moved up to fifth after a safety car period before Zulauf took over the wheel and continued to close in on the leading quartet. The youngster prevailed over his rivals in thrilling duels and was within striking distance of a top 3 result. He finished just 0.3 seconds behind in fourth place and secured second place in the junior championship with an impressive performance.


Max Kronberg was hit by an opponent at the beginning of the race and dropped to the back of the field. However, the man from Berlin did not let himself be distracted and made up many positions. Running in 17th place, he handed over the #30 car to his team-mate Hendrik Still. The latter made full use of his experience in the series and crossed the finish line in tenth place and thus in the points.


In the Cayman GT4 #32, starting driver Leo Pichler had an accident after gaining positions, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop. As a result, he dropped to the back of the grid. In the end, he and his team-mate Leon Wassertheurer finished 25th.


On Sunday, the cards were reshuffled. Hendrik Still qualified for the second race in third place on the grid and was able to keep up with the leaders thanks to his impressive pace. Running in second position and as the best-placed Porsche in the field, he handed over the wheel to Max Kronberg, who was also performing well. A safety car period brought the pack back together and Kronberg was able to defend himself well at first after the restart, but drivers like the reigning champion kept up the pressure from behind. He crossed the finish line in sixth place and once again scored points for the team.


The driver duos Møller Madsen/Zulauf and Pichler/Wassertheurer were hit by bad luck. After an accident with a competitor through no fault of their own, both cars had to retire





QUOTES AFTER RACE


Daniel Schellhaas, Team Principal W&S Motorsport: "It was an eventful start to the new ADAC GT4 Germany season. The practice sessions started very promisingly with positions one and three on Friday. I am happy with the result and our speed. Our cars are fast, we proved that in the first race as the best Porsche team. There is still room for improvement with our juniors in qualifying and we will work on that to start further up front next time."



Hendrik Still, W&S Motorsport Driver #30: "We came to Oschersleben well prepared and could already learn a lot from the GT4 European Series races and the guest start in the GTC Race. The team did a great job! We are constantly developing and Max continues to make big steps forward.


I am very happy that we were able to finish in the points on Saturday after the collision. In Sunday's race, the podium was within reach, but unfortunately the safety car thwarted our plans. Of course we are a bit disappointed about that, but at least we were able to score important points."




Finn Zulauf, AVIA W&S Motorsport Driver #31: "We are happy with the result in the first race. Nicolaj did good work up front in qualifying and gained a lot of places in his stint. I was close to grab a spot on the podium shortly before the end, but couldn't overtake.


So we are very happy with fourth place. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good lap in the second qualifying and so we started further back in the middle of traffic. We had the pace and it would have been a good race for us without the accident."



Leo Pichler, W&S Motorsport Driver #32: "It was a difficult first weekend in the ADAC GT4 Germany for us. We were involved in accidents in both races which ruined our chances of good results. In the second race I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that's motorsport. We will use the time until my home race at the Red Bull Ring to attack again next time."


The third and fourth race of the ADAC GT4 Germany season will be held at the Red Bull Ring in Austria from 20-22 May 2022.




CALENDAR ADAC GT4 GERMANY 2022*

•    22 – 24 April 2022 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
•    20 – 22 May 2022 Red Bull Ring (AUT)
•    24 – 26 June 2022 Circuit Zandvoort (NL)
•    05 – 07 August 2022 Nürburgring
•    23 – 25 September 2022 Sachsenring
•    21 – 23 October 2022 Hockenheim
       *) subject to change



Julia Spacek- photos Gruppe C