Young Driver AMR wins at Sachsenring

Two drivers in top form, a good strategy, excellent teamwork and a perfectly working Aston Martin were the recipe for a terrific weekend of Young Driver AMR and Kristian Poulsen/Christoffer Nygaard at the Sachsenring. The Danish duo secured the first ADAC GT Masters-victory of Young Driver AMR with its new Aston Martin V12 Vantage at the scenic Sachsenring. Already Saturday’s first race ended successful for Poulsen/Nygaard with a fourth place finish. Two wins from Poulsen in the amateur championship rounded off the successful weekend. The Stuck-brothers Ferdinand and Johannes had bad luck at the Sachsenring and were forced into the gravel bed by competitors in both rounds.

There was already much to cheer for Young Driver AMR when Poulsen und Nygaard took fourth place. Kristian Poulsen started from position 13 and worked his way in the first half of the race up to seventh place. After the driver change, Christoffer Nygaard also showed a strong performance and only briefly missed the podium when he finished fourth. The Stuck´s were not so lucky as their teammates in the sister-car. Ferdinand Stuck already had the points in sight in eleventh position, when he was promoted into the gravel by a BMW and subsequently had to park his damaged Aston Martin in the pits.

After the good result on Saturday, it went even better for Poulsen and Nygaard in Sunday’s second heat. Nygaard started seventh and steady improved his position. Young Driver AMR decided for a very late driver change, to give Nygaard the opportunity to take advantage of a clear track in front of him and put in some quick lap times, when the cars in front of him pitted. After a brilliant pit stop of the Young Driver AMR pit crew, Poulsen re-entered the track in the lead. The Dane coped with high pressure from a following Audi during his 25-minute stint and brought the first win of Young Driver AMR in the ADAC GT Masters home. On the downside, the race of Ferdinand and Johannes Stuck ended early, as they had to retire already after the first corner, when a Mercedes forced Johannes Stuck into the gravel bed.

"We are red, we are white, we are Danish dynamite – there seams to be some truth in this“, a happy Young Driver AMR director Hardy Fischer said. „We expected everything this weekend, but certainly not to win. Unfortunately the Stuck brothers had bad luck in both races. Our Aston Martin clearly showed it’s potential this weekend, I hope it will continue like this. The team did an amazing job in the recent weeks and I’m happy that our hard work was rewarded with a victory. I hope that the victory is a good omen for our start together with Aston Martin Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this coming weekend."

There is no time to rest for Young Driver AMR now, as the team travelled to Le Mans from the Sachsenring. At the 24 hours of Le Mans next weekend, Young Driver AMR will enter an Aston Martin Vantage in conjunction with Aston Martin Racing for Poulsen, Nygaard and fellow Dane Allan Simonsen.

Driver quotes after the race:

Christoffer Nygaard (# 33 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3): "Unbelievable! We never expected that we have a chance to win at the Sachsenring. I didn’t know in the first half of the race in what position I was. Then when I saw P1 on the pit board, I could not believe it. Kristian did a awesome job in the second half of the race."

Kristian Poulsen (# 33 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3): "That was a really good today! After the pit stop, I was a bit worried, as it had some issues with the clutch and the second and third gear. So the following Audi and BMW came very near. But then the problems suddenly disappeared and I could control the lead.“

Johannes Stuck (# 32 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3): "Congratulations to our teammates, they did a fantastic job. Unfortunately, we had extremely bad luck this weekend, but will for sure attack at the next round."

Ferdinand Stuck (# 32 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3): "We must now quickly forget this weekend and will focus entirely on the next race at the Nürburgring in five weeks."