Wall?!? WALL!!!
How we were all looking forward to this event. Great little track, only one place with a wall that you have to get really close to, board tubs, fast bends and lots of duels.
We didn’t completely miscalculate, there were plenty of duels to watch on the flat course. There were also fast bends and even drifts. But there was also ONE wall that limited the track.
Contrary to expectations, the Quali was very tidy. Despite a lap time of around 1.10 minutes, all the drivers found a place for the fastest lap and the opponents made room whenever possible so that their opponents could at least have one good run.
Yannick took pole position, ahead of Andreas Walter and Daniel Erstling in P3. Marcus Krüger and Frank Phlipsen completed the top 5, which obviously spoke in favor of a Porsche track, with 3 Porsches among the top 5. Our older colleagues like Michael Welle and Michael Mintgen couldn’t quite keep up and finished thirteenth and fourteenth. Stefan Baeumer, who we will hear from again later, started from P17. Our youngest, Louis Schütze, on the other hand, settled for 21st place on the grid.
The start, classically in rows of two, could have been better but gave the Mercedes drivers enough space to play off their starting advantage. Patrick Leitner gladly accepted the invitation and catapulted the Stuttgart-based driver from P8 to P2. While the first riders were able to line up without any problems, there was a serious collision further back that cost Stefan Wukovatz the race.
Michael Welle and Michael Marquardt had overlooked each other in the situation and collided. Welle then lost control of the vehicle and crashed into Stefan Wukovatz on the left. With almost 200 km/h on the clock, there was no stopping Stefan either. On top of that, Markus Smetaczek came from behind and could only slow down with difficulty, but still gave Stefan the final impulse for a fatal spin into the wall.
Shortly afterwards, at the same spot, Marcel Hesen and Lothar Keiling collide in the same way. Lothar loses a wheel in the wall in question. Marcel is able to continue – unfortunately not for too long – on lap 2 he has another accident with Stefan Bäumer and shortly afterwards, just like Lothar and Stefan Wukovatz, retires the car. I wonder if that wasn’t once a mistake. Retiring so early in the race doesn’t usually make too much sense, but I can understand any driver who retires after such an incident. Often an early parking of the vehicle accompanies a bad feeling of the driver already at the beginning of the race. You would have to find out for yourself whether this was the case 😉.
But that was by no means all the dented sheet metal, flying wheels and missing carbon parts for this race. The end of the season is fast approaching and the drivers are showing more and more commitment and willingness to take risks. It didn’t really pay off for Matthias Weber, Thomas Batzke and a few others. The risk they took in the final chicane was clearly too great. Thomas crashed here on the last lap – very annoying! Matthias misjudged twice in the hunt for the fastest race lap there. All good things come in threes, he thought, and set the fastest race lap at the third attempt.
But I can’t blame the boys, the narrow entrance and the wide exit of this chicane literally invited them to give it a bit more. Last but not least, the dust stirred up by driving along the edge of the meadow must have made the situation more challenging.
While we’re on the subject of bad luck: I’m just wondering who we should give the prize for the unluckiest race. Markus Smetaczek, who was apparently always close by when other drivers misjudged, is among the shortlist. Or rather Thomas Batzke, who had to experience a good mixture of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and overestimation, or rather Matthias Weber, who selflessly replaced the crash test dummy of his Aston Martin. Choose your own favorite in the class.
Things really got going at the front during the race. After Yannick crashed into the wall at the exit of the last right-hand bend, collected his bikes and stopped for repairs, the riders swapped over and gave almost half the riders the opportunity to lead the field. Michael Mintgen also clocked up some leading laps and kilometers in Cleveland. Unfortunately, the late stop without a tire change didn’t pay off. He lacked the performance in places to keep up with the rest. He ended up in 7th place.
The last right-hand bend was a challenging double right-hand bend, which was bordered on the outside by a wall. Those who hit the ball there usually got a massive spin, which ended in a rollover a few times. Patrick Leitner was one of these victims of the “New Wall of Champions”. He then also parked the vehicle.
After countless position changes and a jumbled midfield, Marcus Krüger won the race. He was lucky and escaped all accidents without being involved and did not make the acquaintance of the “wall”.
Second place went to Michael Marquardt, who didn’t make any mistakes apart from a little hanky-panky with Michael Welle on the first lap. Jessy Monrose came third, directly ahead of his teammate Daniel Erstling. Clean team performance at this point.
Frank Phlipsen completed the top 5 again, and you could be forgiven for thinking that he had rented 5th place. Stefan Bäumer will also be pleased to be in the top 10, especially after the hard collision with Marcel at the start of the race.
A lot more happened and of course there were also some very nice and fair duels. There was everything from “luck in misfortune” to “misfortune on the straight”. Roland, Jutta, Andreas and Hasso accompany you in the stream. Some riders were still on the bench and followed the race live with informative commentary. 2 races are still pending. We meet on 14.04. at the Sachsenring again. You can view the points table here, including the first strike result. Thank you for the great race and good luck for the next one!
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