Two class wins and second overall for AVIA W&S Motorsport in rain battle in ADAC GT4 Germany at the Nürburgring

With three Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, AVIA W&S Motorsport traveled to the Nürburgring for the third race weekend of the ADAC GT4 Germany. The three driver duos already showed their strengths in the test sessions on Thursday and Friday, leading the timesheets. Frequent weather changes and heavy rain showers made tire selection a poker game on all days. In the morning dry qualifying for the first race on Saturday afternoon, David Jahn and Jannes Fittje qualified the #31 GEDORE Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 for seventh on the grid. The AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #75, piloted by youngsters Finn Zulauf and Daniel Gregor, started the one-hour race from 14th position. Max Kronberg and Hendrik Still lined up in position 17 with the RODOPI Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #30. 

On the grid for the first race of the weekend on Saturday, heavy rain set in. So the race started on rain tires and with two laps behind the safety car. Starting driver David Jahn immediately managed to gain positions with the GEDORE Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #31. Likewise, Daniel Gregor in the #75 and Max Kronberg in the #30 overtook the opponents, but an accident through no fault of his own after ten minutes meant the early end for Max Kronberg and caused a race interruption with the red flag. 

After the restart behind the safety car, David Jahn was already in fourth position. Shortly before the mandatory stop with driver change, he suffered a puncture. Jahn managed to bring the Porsche into the pit lane and hand it over to Jannes Fittje. As the track had already almost dried out, Fittje rejoined the field on slick tires. But shortly afterwards the sky opened its floodgates and Jannes Fittje stopped again to change back to rain tires. In the end, 18th place was the maximum result of the race for the driver duo of the GEDORE Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #31. At the halfway point of the race, Daniel Gregor handed over the AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #75 in 13th position to Finn Zulauf, who also came out of the pits on slicks first, and then also picked up rain tires at another stop. After close duels, he crossed the finish line in twelfth place and seventh in the junior classification, thus securing points for the team. 

The Eifel weather was also moody during the second qualifying session on Sunday morning and it started to rain again during the twenty-minute session. David Jahn qualified the GEDORE Porsche with the #31 for the second starting position. However, due to a penalty, Jahn had to start the race from the back of the field. Finn Zulauf secured pole position in the Junior classification and third on the grid in the #75 AVIA racing Porsche, while Hendrik Still put the #30 RODOPI Porsche on pole in the Trophy classification and took up the race from eighth on the grid. 

As on the previous day, the second race on Sunday also started in heavy rain with two laps behind the safety car. All three AVIA W&S Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 had a good start and Hendrik Still in the #30 and Jannes Fittje in the #31 gained many positions. After 15 minutes Fittje was already in the top 20 and Still in fifth position right behind the sister car #75 with Zulauf at the wheel. David Jahn took over the #31 GEDORE Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 at the mandatory pit stop and continued the chase. At the same time the RODOPI Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #30 and the AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #75 came into the pits and Max Kronberg took over the #30 and Daniel Gregor the #75. 

Daniel Gregor fought exciting duels at the front of the field and with a strong maneuver on the last lap he brought the AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #75 to the finish line in second overall and celebrated the victory in the Junior class with Finn Zulauf. Max Kronberg kept a cool head and took no risks. This was rewarded with the sixth overall place of the RODOPI Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #30 and the victory in the Trophy classification for Kronberg. David Jahn completed the good overall result for AVIA W&S Motorsport with eighth place for the GEDORE Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 #31. 

AVIA W&S Motorsport is in third place in the team standings at the halfway point of the season. David Jahn and Jannes Fittje are fourth in the drivers' standings and still have good chances in the fight for the championship. Finn Zulauf and Daniel Gregor occupy second place in the Juniors' standings and are within striking distance of the championship leaders. In the overall standings, they are in sixth place. Max Kronberg is third in the Trophy standings. From 18 to 20 August 2023, the fourth weekend of the ADAC GT4 Germany season at the Lausitzring will once again be all about points in the championship. The team of Patrick Wagner and Daniel Schellhaas wants to attack there again and fight for victories.

Quotes after the race 

Daniel Schellhaas, Team Principal W&S Motorsport: "The third ADAC GT4 Germany weekend is behind us. There were difficult weather conditions on all days at the Nürburgring. On the test days we were able to gather important knowledge in the rain. In the end, it was a game of roulette with the tire choice in the first race, which unfortunately didn't go in our favor. The accident of the RODOPI Porsche, which was not our fault, was annoying, because Max was very well in the race. On Sunday there was the next setback due to the demotion of the #31 from grid position two to the back of the field. David and Jannes showed a strong recovery with eighth place at the end. Finn and Daniel gave the team every reason to cheer with second place overall and victory in the Juniors. I am particularly pleased with Max's performance after a strong stint from Hendrik, which has put him back in the fight for the Trophy championship. In two weeks, we will already be heading into the decisive phase of the ADAC GT4 Germany at the Lausitzring."

Max Kronberg, Driver #30: "The weekend at the Nürburgring unfortunately got off to a mixed start, as I was wiped out early on in the first race and the team had their hands full afterwards getting the car back in shape for Sunday. Thanks to the hard work of our crew, we managed to do this until late at night. Thanks to all for this! On Sunday, Hendrik started from eighth place and fought his way forward strongly, handing over to me in fourth position. Sixth place overall at the end in the strong field is a sensational result and with my victory in the Trophy I was able to significantly reduce the gap in the standings again, so that I can hopefully move up further at the Lausitzring."

Jannes Fittje, Driver #31: "We came to the Eifel with high expectations, however, both races did not go as we had hoped and we only took a few points. In the free practice sessions the pace was promising, both in the dry and in the rain. After David's start from seventh on Saturday, we were in front for a long time before he got the hit and we fell back. Unfortunately, the joint decision to change to slicks was wrong, we lost more places due to the extra stop and left the race without points. On Sunday, we had high hopes after qualifying after I put the car in second place. Due to a penalty we then had to start the second race from 29th place. I then managed to move up to twelfth place in my stint and David achieved a still satisfactory result for the team with eighth place. We will strike back at the Lausitzring so that we are back in contention for the championship."

Finn Zulauf, Driver #75: "A successful weekend for us at the Nürburgring is over. The first race was still very successful, despite the wrong tire choice during the pit stop, and then we were able to gain places and points in a race to catch up. We built on this on Sunday and were rewarded with victory in class and second place overall. Thanks to Daniel and the AVIA W&S Motorsport team for two strong races in these conditions."

Daniel Gregor, Driver #75: "Rainy days are behind us and we always had strong pace in the conditions. Finn had very good prerequisites on Sunday with third on the grid and we were always at the front as a result, he did a great job. I managed the decisive maneuver at the end of the race after a battle over laps and brought second place to the finish. With the victory in the Juniors, our trend continues in the right direction."