The Wochenspiegel Team Manthey (WTM-Racing) finished the eighth round of the endurance racing championship Nürburgring, the 43rd ADAC Barbarossapreis race, in position six and scored another class win. “We can be more than happy with this result and I am sure we still have some potential to even improve in future”, said Georg Weiss happily after the finish.
An enjoyable late summer day in the Eifel region provided perfect racing conditions. Following practice, the Wochenspiegel-Porsche 997 driven by Georg Weiss, Michael Jacobs and Oliver Kainz again finished in the top 10. The fastest lap of the team, achieved with 8:22.129 minutes by Oliver Kainz just before the end of the practice session, resulted in ninth grid position. “It was not at all a perfect lap. It’s a pity because had I been only one second faster, we would have gained two rows on the grid.”
As usual, Oliver Kainz started the race but WTM-Racing changed their usual strategy after four laps. The Wochenspiegel-Porsche came to the pits as the last refuel stop was brought forward. Georg Weiss: “Oliver Kainz was stuck into eighth position and could simply not pass the cars in front. That was the reason why we changed our pit strategy so that we had a clear track afterwards.”
Just a few laps later, the team was back in the top ten and Michael Jacobs as well as Georg Weiss were able to keep this position after the scheduled stops. The Wochenspiegel-Porsche took the chequered flag after four hours race time into sixth place and scored another win in class SP7. Georg Weiss: “A race without any major problems. We showed a constant performance and we were not at our limits regarding lap times. However, we absolutely wanted to finish the race today and this worked well.”
Georg Weiss: “We really needed this success. Finally, we have finished a race again with a good result. We can build on that and will further attack during the remaining races.”
Michael Jacobs: “That was really fun. I had some difficulties at the beginning to find my rhythm. However, I adapted well and set my fastest times towards the end.”
Oliver Kainz: “That was for sure not my day today. I was not able to pass some competitors at the beginning. I felt it was better to be safe and kept my good starting position. We can be happy with the result.”
