New strong performance of Matech GT Racing, still ahead in the championship !
After two wins in the opening weekend of the ADAC GT Masters, the German GT3 Championship, Matech GT Racing only entered one Ford GT in the second meeting of the year at the Nürburgring. The races were held during the weekend of the mythic 24 Hours of the Ring. “We didn’t find a final agreement yet for our second car for the remaining of the season”, explains Martin Bartek, team manager of the Swiss team. “One of our cars was heavily damaged in Monza last week, so we didn’t want to take any risks at all. We hope to finalize a deal before the third meeting of the series that will take place on the Norisring on June the 27, 28 and 29.”
Marc Hennerici and Kenneth Heyer were the drivers on duty in the Eifel, racing the remaining #5 Matech Ford GT. The team took in account that it would be difficult to score as good as they did a few weeks ago, given the success ballast of 40 kg following both victories in Oschersleben. And what’s more the FIA again reduced the size of the air restrictor of the Ford GT. All together, the Matech Ford GT now carries 80 kg more than the original homologation weight, but still showed a strong pace during free practice. Heyer and Hennerici were twice second quickest in free practice and qualified fourth and third on the grid.
But things all went wrong right after the start of the first race on Friday. Due to a delayed start procedure, the complete grid of the ADAC GT Masters, over 20 cars, arrived together at the first corner. The #19 Corvette hit the Ford GT of Heyer at the back and as a result of the impact; Heyer crashed right into the car in front of him. The crash was impressive and the damage even more…
As it was the case in Oschersleben and in Monza, the Matech GT Racing mechanics did a wonderful job through the night getting the car ready before the start of the second race, on Saturday. A big round of applause for the mechanical staff of the team!
Hennerici and Heyer came home second, after a thrilling duel with the #1 Lamborghini, finally won by the American GT. The difference between Heyer and his opponent was only 6 tenths of a second…
“Again, I want to thank the entire team”, explains Martin Bartek. “The second place is the result of the hard work of our staff and what’s more our team, Matech GT Racing, still is leading the team’s championship. Last but not least, Marc Hennerici and Kenneth Heyer are still second in the drivers standing together with Thomas Mutsch and Jürgen Von Gartzen, who competed the first round in Oschersleben with us. Once more, the Ford GT, developed by our team, showed very strong.”
The next round of the ADAC GT Masters takes place at the Norisring, by the end of June, one week before the third round of the FIA GT3 in Oschersleben.