Two podium finishes and class wins for AVIA W&S Motorsport in the ADAC GT4 Germany at the Lausitzring

AVIA W&S Motorsport finished on the podium twice in the second round of ADAC GT4 Germany 2024 at the Lausitzring. Finn Zulauf and Josef Knopp in the AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport #31 finished second in Sunday's race ahead of the sister car #30 of Max Kronberg and Hendrik Still in third place. There was also a class victory and further class podium finishes in the Junior and Trophy championships.

The race weekend got off to a promising start with good results in the first qualifying session on Saturday. In the following race, the junior duo Zulauf/Knopp finished fourth overall and only just missed out on a place on the podium. Kronberg/Still finished ninth, while Alon Gabbay and Tano Neuman in the #9 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport also scored championship points in twelfth position. In the classes, Kronberg and Neumann took second and third place in the Trophy championship, while Zulauf and Knopp finished third in the Juniors.

In the second qualifying session on Sunday, all the drivers from the Ofterdingen-based racing team topped it off and put all three Porsches on the first three rows of the grid. Finn Zulauf and Josef Knopp (#31) secured the first pole position of the season. Max Kronberg and Hendrik Still (#30) achieved their best qualifying result so far this year with third place on the grid, as did their team-mates Alon Gabbay and Tano Neumann (#9) in sixth place.

Rain set in shortly before the start of the race, making for difficult conditions. In a thrilling race and on a drying track, Zulauf/Knopp and Kronberg/Still were able to fend off attacks from the competition and clinch further podium places for Patrick Wagner and Daniel Schellhaas' team with second and third positions. Kronberg also won the Trophy classification and Zulauf/Knopp came second in the Junior class. The Neumann/Gabbay duo had to retire from the race prematurely after an accident.

Zulauf/Knopp are in second place in the drivers' standings with 66 points, while Kronberg/Still are fourth with 43 points. AVIA W&S Motorsport are in second place in the team standings. Zulauf/Knopp lead the Junior classification, Kronberg is first in the Trophy class ahead of his team-mate Neumann in second place. The third round of the ADAC GT4 Germany will take place from 05 - 07 July at the Norisring in Nuremberg.

Quotes after the race

Daniel Schellhaas, Team Principal W&S Motorsport: "I am very proud of our team and our drivers, who gave their all to be up front! Second and third places are the well-deserved reward for the hard work over the last few weeks and I am delighted that we were able to score a lot of points for the championship. Max put in a great performance in the battle for the podium and finished third in the end. Let's keep going like this!"

Alon Gabbay, Driver #9: "It was a good weekend. We didn't have much practice time to get used to the track. But we were able to improve continuously, had good speed and finished in the top 10. That's what we have been working towards. I am very happy with sixth on the grid and we were fifth at one point. It was an extremely positive weekend and I am really looking forward to the Norisring."

Max Kronberg, Driver #30: "Many thanks to the entire team! Everyone did a great job and we gained a lot of time during the tyre change. I saw in the rear-view mirror that Piana was getting closer and closer and gave everything I had to stay in front and bring home third place. I am extremely happy with the result and it's just mega that we were able to finish on the podium."

Finn Zulauf, Driver #31: "It was a good weekend with a fourth and a second place in the races. We scored a lot of points and were able to narrow the gap to the front-runners in the championship. We will continue to work to ensure that we can fight for victory next time. But we are very happy with the result and maybe we will soon be standing at the top of the podium."