With a show of strength Christian Abt and Jan Seyffarth defended the leading two positions in the ADAC GT Masters after both races at the Nürburgring.
Following a retirement in Saturday’s race the experienced campaigner and youngster showed their resolve by fighting back on Sunday: Second place and thus a place at the head of the table in the hard fought sportscar series. With 56 points Abt has a two point lead ahead of his team mate and a five point lead from the toughest rivals Luca Ludwig and Marc Hennerici.
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“We had a good and a bad race this weekend,” summarises Christian Abt. The first race was not without consequence since Seyffarth and the Allgäu born racer had to compete with the heaviest car on the grid following their previous victories. Although start driver Seyffarth held a promising fourth place for many laps the high weight of the Audi R8 LMS over stressed the material. Brake problems initially slowed the pace, after the driver change Abt was forced to retire due to a slow puncture. It was the first retirement for the number six R8 LMS.
The appropriate reply came in the form of a sensational second place in the second race. “We said beforehand that a podium finish here at the Nürburgring would be like a win,” said a delighted Jan Seyffarth after the prize ceremony. His team mate was also just happy after the pleasing end to the race weekend: “Our strategy was perfect today. We managed the tyres perfectly, stayed cool throughout the entire race, worked perfectly as a team and completely exploited the mistakes made by the competition,” reports Christian Abt. The title battle is coming to a head for the former DTM star: The ADAC GT Masters makes its next stop at the Sachsenring – one of Christian Abt’s favourite tracks around which he has already celebrated several victories.
The newly formed pairing of Peter Terting and Florian Gruber in the sister car of the championship leader made a strong debut: The Germans scored points first time out after finishing eighth and seventh in both races. “I’m satisfied: We have gelled as a team and scored points – exactly this was our goal,” said Peter Terting. Florian Gruber had to learn the hard way on his debut in the team ABT Sportsline Audi R8 LMS. “It was more difficult than I expected. However, it went better from lap to lap, whereby working with the team and the data recording was a great help for me,” said the youngest member of the ABT family after the two races.
- ABT Motorsport
