While this weekend marked an important milestone for the ADAC GT Masters Series as they celebrated their 100th race, the driver of the #3 Pilot Callaway Competition Corvette, Andreas Wirth, once again found no reason for merriment.
Heading into unfamiliar territory this weekend at the Slovakia Ring, Wirth was unsure what to expect, but knew enough not to try to predict the outcome of the weekend. Despite attempts to keep an open-mind, rain loomed on the horizon for the weekend and Wirth knew all too well that wet weather has not been the Corvette's friend - so only time would only tell if bad luck would once again rain on his parade.
Qualifying efforts on Friday proved to be hopeless for Andreas as an issue with the alternator left him stranded after just one good flying lap. The #3 Callaway Competition Z06R GT3 Corvette would start from 11th and 9th as the series took to the Slovakia Ring for the first time.
As predicted, rain dampened the teams' spirits as Race #1 was declared a wet race that would start behind the safety car. While Wirth and Hohenadel pushed as hard as they could, ongoing tyre issues haunted the Corvette as they clearly continue to struggle in the wet. The #3 was only able to manage a 13th place finish in Saturday's race.
With a slightly better starting place and clear skies for Sunday's race, their chances to salvage a few points for the weekend seemed somewhat improved. Despite an under-steering car, Hohenadel managed to gain a few places and handed the car over to Wirth at the driver's change in 5th place. Eager to make gains of his own, Wirth pushed too hard leaving the pit, touched the white line and went off track which caused officials to levy a drive-through penalty. Making matters worse, Wirth's off track adventure jammed the air intakes with grass, forcing him back to the garage, ending his day.
A disheartened Wirth wrapped up the weekend saying, "What can I say - it was another really disappointing weekend for us. I had a problem with the alternator on Friday in qualifying and only got to put in one good flying lap before it left me stranded. It's disappointing for sure, because obviously we had a better car than P11 - Christian (Hohenadel) was able to qualify P9 for us once they fixed the issue. Saturday's race ... well again, what do we say, wet + this years' tyres + Corvette just doesn't work. The others were faster than us by about 3 seconds on new tyres at the beginning, but our times stayed consistent throughout - for some reason 0069t just doesn't work for Corvette this year. Today I'm just really mad with myself - Christian had a good start and handed the car over in P5 - we definitely had a car for P4 or 5 today, but I made a mistake on the exit of the pit, touched the line and went off. I knew the car was under-steering from what Christian had radioed back to the team, but I had no idea how bad it was. I'm really mad at myself - it's my mistake that we had to park the car. It's been a tough season. I'm definitely disappointed, but the season finale is less than two weeks away at my home track so I have to get focused and ready for Hockenheim. I always have a lot of support there, which is great, but the pressure for a good performance is always there too. I really want to deliver for my sponsors and my all of my supporters, so I look forward now and try even harder for our last two races."
The final round of 2013 ADAC GT Masters competition takes place in less than two weeks time at Andreas' home track - The Hockenheimring - September 27-29 .
The ADAC GT Masters Series will be broadcast live and full-length in 2013 on Cable 1 (Kabel1 –www.kabeleins.de) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and we will do our best to provide updates throughout the race weekends via Facebook and Twitter to his fans from around the world. For additional TV coverage please check out the ADAC GT Masters website here - http://www.adac-gt-masters.de/de/tv-guide/static/
