Heyer, Asch and Ludwig at start of third VLN raceMercedes-AMG GT3 with solid performance in four-hour-raceThe MANN-FILTER Team ZAKSPEED was able to complete a solid test program with their #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the third and therefore last and final milestone ahead of the 24h-Race taking place in two weeks at the Nürburgring.
The starting field of the SP9 category was once again very competitive and the tight running was shown with extremely close lap times. Sebastian Asch qualified the #75 in P16. Unfortunately, the car was brought to technical scrutineering due to an issue with the under-floor and a lot of time was lost just ahead of the start to the race. Therefore, no further Setup changes could be done to the car.
Luca Ludwig was forced to start from the pitlane and follow the first starting group, but the was able to attack right from the start, making up some positions. But Ludwig had to come into the pits for the 30-second-penalty given after qualifying. Kenneth Heyer was the second driver in the car and handed the Mercedes-AMG GT3 over to team-mate Sebastian Asch from P16.
Asch had a very good run towards the end, demonstrating once again the performance of the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Despite a few pitstops, in which different tyres were changed and tested, Asch set lap-times competing with the times driving by the front runners. A disappointing P15 did not reflect the good run and possibilities, that could have been for the #75 MANN-FILTER racing car in today´s race.
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Driver Quotes
Kenneth Heyer:"It was no easy weekend for us, but the team worked well together. We had a few ups and downs. The penalty after the qualifying was unfortunate, and we lost a lot of time which we could have used for doing some Setup changes. In general, we were able to test a few things and are confident, that we could have achieved a better result.”
Sebastian Asch:"The car´s speed was great towards the end of the race and we used the final stint for different tests. I pitted a few times to change onto different tyres. Today was a step into the right direction and we were able to drive lap-times as good as the front runners.”
Luca Ludwig:"The start was good, but I had to fight my way through some traffic at the start. The car felt good and I managed to make up some positions. We just have to work on our overall speed now, because we are not consistent enough over a longer distance at the moment.”
