News

Well-earned championship points for Schubert Motorsport at the ADAC GT Masters on the Nürburgring. The return from the summer break put the BMW M Motorsport team from Oschersleben to the test this weekend. Showing plenty of fighting spirit, the team scored three points results with their two BMW M4 GT3s in the Eifel. BMW factory drivers Jesse Krohn and Nicky Catsburg passed eleven competitors on Sunday and were rewarded with ninth place. Ben Green and Niklas Krütten defied several setbacks to finish inside the Top Ten in both races. The duo thus leads the ADAC GT Masters Junior standings at the season's halfway point.

The fourth of seven race weekends on the 2022 calendar took the Schubert Motorsport squad to the 3.629 km-long sprint layout of the Nürburgring. Intensive preparations in July and the official test on Thursday made for a promising start. In the second practice session, Green made an impression with third place in the field of 21 GT3 cars. Krohn as well achieved a solid start for the number 20 sister car with sixth place.

The first qualifying session on Saturday morning was to become a harbinger of two challenging days of racing for the Schubert Motorsport crew. Krütten and Catsburg secured 12th and 13th on the grid. Krütten though had to line up in 17th. The 19-year-old from Trier had overlooked and impeded another car in qualifying, which led to a grid penalty of five positions.

In the first race, things went well for the duo in car number 10 right from the start. Krütten had advanced to 13th position by the time of the driver change on lap 20. In the second stint, Green  made up further ground to achieve tenth place, which was rewarded with six points at the finish. Their teammates, on the other hand, did not see the chequered flag. Catsburg ran a promising eighth when he was stopped by a puncture on lap 14.

Sunday started with an impressive qualifying session from Green. The 24-year-old Briton set the second fastest time in the BMW M4 GT3, missing out on pole position by just 0.075 seconds. A grid penalty for reprimands issued on Sunday gave him seventh on the grid for the second 60-minute race. Krohn ended up on the tenth row of the grid after a difficult qualifying session.

The 31-year-old Finn made amends for it in the race with an impressive showing. He gained several positions at the start and closed the gap to the Top Ten in the first stint. Running a strong pace, the pitwall opted for an overcut at the driver change. Krohn only handed over to Catsburg at the end of the pit stop window. The 34-year-old Dutchman turned up the heat in the second half of the race and secured ninth place for the duo. At the finish were only two seconds off fifth place.

After a difficult start, Green confirmed the strong performance of the BMW M4 GT3 at the Nürburgring with the fastest lap of the race. Eleventh place gave him and Krütten their second points result of the weekend. The duo is in fifth position in the driver standings of the high-calibre German GT Championship. In the Junior standings for drivers under 25 years of age, the two are at the top. Krohn and Catsburg are only four points behind the Top Ten in eleventh place, while Schubert Motorsport holds fifth in the team standings. The next race weekend takes place from 19 to 21 August at the Lausitzring.

ADAC GT Masters

Jesse Krohn/Nicky Catsburg - BMW M4 GT3 #20

Qualifying 1: P13 - Race 1: DNF

Qualifying 2: P20 - Race 2: P9

Jesse Krohn: "Saturday was bad luck, really. There was a lot of carnage on track and there were carbon parts everywhere. Nicky was unlucky to drive over one of them and after the safety car period it would have been impossible to score a result with that extra pit stop. I have to take the blame for the second qualifying. There was a misunderstanding about the timing and how I prepared the tyre. I didn't have time for a push lap at the end. The session was over right in the moment the tyre was at its best. That really compromised the day for us. But we kept our heads down and made the best of it. To score points from second to last on the grid is a solid result. It shows that we were out of position. We have to make sure that such mistakes don't happen to us again."

Nicky Catsburg: " It was another tough weekend for us. On Saturday we were looking very good in eighth place, but unfortunately I ran over a piece of debris during the safety car period, which damaged the tyre. A pit stop was not possible, so we had to retire, which was very disappointing. Sunday started with a difficult qualifying session, but we had a fantastic race afterwards. To move up to ninth position showed that our car has a strong pace. We need to improve on qualifying because it wasn’t good enough on both days. We will continue to work hard and hopefully have a bit more luck on our side at the Lausitzring."

ADAC GT Masters

Niklas Krütten/Ben Green - BMW M4 GT3 #10

Qualifying 1: P12 - Race 1: P10

Qualifying 2: P2 - Race 2: P11

Niklas Krütten: "That was a very difficult weekend for us. Even though we were the fastest BMW in both qualifying sessions, we are obviously not satisfied with the output in the end. We were involved in a lot of battles in both races, which, as experience shows, also lead to contact with the competitors. Of course, from the driver's point of view, you see it differently than those standing on the outside or the race control. But this weekend we had the feeling that the penalties imposed on us were not always justified. It doesn’t help, all I can do is hope that we will be on the bright side again at the next races at the Lausitzring and achieve better results."

Ben Green: "I’m really happy with our performance as a team this weekend at Nürburgring. I feel that we learned a lot and we managed to maximise the performance of our car on a track that traditionally didn’t play into our hands. My target for Sunday was pole position and I missed out by just 0.075 seconds. It was close and I am excited for the next rounds. A big thank you to the team. They have worked hard to make another step forward with the car on the Nürburgring. We have a great package that enables us to fight at the front."

Busy weekend in the ADAC GT4 Germany

In the ADAC GT4 Germany, the start to the second half of the season marked another character-building weekend. GT4 rookie Patrick Steinmetz and teammate Michael von Zabiensky showed a late charge at the Nürburgring. The practice sessions and qualifying sessions did not initially go to plan for the duo in the BMW M4 GT4. In each of the 60-minute races, the drivers made up ground.

In the first race, von Zabiensky received a drive-through penalty for contact with another car, after which he and Steinmetz were classified 24th. On Sunday, they showed plenty of resilience with a fightback in the record field of starters in the top-class GT4 series. From 31st on the grid, they gained over ten positions. Steinmetz was right behind the point scoring positions when the car was damaged in a battle on the last lap.

ADAC GT4 Germany

Patrick Steinmetz/Michael von Zabiensky - BMW M4 GT4 #10

Qualifying 1: P29 - Race 1: P24

Qualifying 2: P31- Race 2: P23

Patrick Steinmetz: "We have a difficult weekend behind us. In the practice sessions, we took a long time trying to find the right balance. In qualifying, we then felt the balance of performance of our car, which did not play into our hands. The race pace was more competitive as usual, but the drive-through penalty took away a chance for points on Saturday. In the second race we were making good progress and I was in contention for points when I collided with another car and damaged the suspension. It was our first race weekend without a point scoring result. It's very disappointing and we don't want that to happen again."

Michael von Zabiensky: "It went pretty mixed for us. We had our difficulties with the setup at the start of the weekend, but the team was able to solve them. Despite this progress, we were still held back by the balance of performance, which was particularly noticeable in wheel-to-wheel racing. In qualifying we didn't deliver driving-wise, which made the races even more difficult for us. Over the distance, however, we had good pace as usual. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on Saturday, for which we were penalised. In the second race, things went quite well until Patrick was involved in a fight on the last lap and we had to stop. Thanks to the team for their tireless work. At the Lausitzring, we want to do better on the race track."

Team Manager Marcel Schmidt: "It was a weekend of mixed feelings for us. The results don't do justice to the pace of our package. The crew did a fantastic job with the setup of the BMW M4 GT3 and we can be really happy with this performance. On the other hand, we didn't maximise the potential with the results. The puncture on Saturday was bad luck, but in the end there were too many small mistakes on track, which in their sum cost us possible top results. With the points we did damage limitation. If we want to stay in the title fight, we have to do a better job in the remaining three race weekends and stay free of mistakes. We have shown many times that we are capable of that and we will show it again."