Marc A. Hayek starts into the new ADAC GT Masters season with a podium finish
- Marc A. Hayek (President and CEO of Blancpain) and Peter Kox contest in the Reiter Lamborghini Gallardo FL2
- Podium finish in the first race for Marc A. Hayek and Peter Kox
- Live broadcast of the races in HD quality on kabel eins
More than 10,000 spectators witnessed the season opener of the popular ADAC GT Masters series at the weekend in sunny weather. Swiss entrepreneur Marc A. Hayek (President and CEO of Blancpain) and race driver Peter Kox from the Netherlands share a Reiter Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 in the Blancpain Racing team this season. Both have been contesting this series successfully for a few years now. Hayek won the title in the Gentlemen ranking in 2011 and Kox took the overall victory in the series a year before.
The ADAC GT Masters is a racing series that complies with international GT3 regulations. Two race drivers share a car. The teams have two free practice sessions to set their cars up for the individual track conditions. This is followed by two qualifying sessions for the drivers. The first session determines the start position for the first race on Saturday. The second driver secures his start position for the race on Sunday. The driver change takes place within a specified time frame after the first half of the race. It is mandatory for each team.
All races of the super sports car league season are broadcast live in HD (high definition) quality by TV station kabel eins on Saturday and Sunday at 11.45 a.m.
The drivers use the free practice sessions on Friday to make themselves familiar with the car and the racetrack. Kox and Hayek completed their laps in order to find the perfect set-up for the racetrack at Oscherlseben. Peter Kox set the fastest lap of 1:27.931 in the second free practice, proving that the Reiter Lamborghini is competitive in this season's strong grid.
Peter Kox put in another fantastic performance in the qualifying, securing P2 for the Gallardo P2, a mere 0.057 seconds behind the fastest driver in the grid. Marc A. Hayek struggled with severe understeer in his qualifying and did not achieve a satisfying result.
At the wheel for the start stint of the first race on Saturday, Hayek put pressure on the car in front of him right away and gained a lot of places. He had already moved up 8 places after 8 laps before Peter Kox took over. Kox started pushing right away and gained several positions. He secured P12 in the overall ranking and took P2 in the Gentlemen ranking, which Marc A. Hayek is competing in. Consequently, the Swiss scored 18 championship points.
A massive crash with several cars occurred at the start of the second race. All drivers involved escaped almost unharmed thanks to the high security standards of this series. The Lamborghini's alternator failed to work on the way to the grid formation for the restart. Since it was impossible to repair the defect in such a short amount of time, the team decided not to participate in the race and to bring the car back into the pit.
Marc A. Hayek: “Contesting the exciting ADAC GT Masters only one week after the season kick-off of the Blancpain Series at Nogaro is great.
The Reiter Lamborghini ran really well in the free practice sessions, and Peter (Kox) at the wheel of the Gallardo set the fastest lap in the second free practice session. I struggled with severe understeer in my qualifying and was not happy with my lap times.
We drove a good first race despite our bad start position and I took P2 in my ranking. Several cars were involved in a massive crash at the start of the second race, which resulted in quite a long suspension. In addition, the alternator failed to work and we were unable to take part in the restart.”
Peter Kox: “The weekend started off very good for us. Marc (A. Hayek) put in a fantastic performance and won P2 in his ranking in the first race, even though he did not drive at all for a while before the racing season. The team prepared the Reiter Lamborghini perfectly, we found a good set-up in the free practice sessions and I set the second fastest time in my qualifying session. Unfortunately, a serious crash occurred in the second race, and the alternator was broken on my way to the grid formation for restart. It was not possible to repair the defect, therefore we had to retire the Lambo in the pit.”
The two race drivers will be back at the wheel at Zandvoort, Netherlands from May 9th to 11th, 2014, when the second round of the ADAC GT Masters takes place.
