Despair at ADAC GT Master's opener for Prosport Performance

Swapping over to the new Aston Martin Racing V8 Vantage GT3 platform and hiring some very impressive driving ability was certainly a message of intent from German based Prosport Performance as they took the British marque into the top flight of German GT racing for 2019 but it was to be no fairytale for the team at the end of todays opening race.

As the cars were lined up along the pit wall ready for the formation lap and the start of todays opening one hour race it was already a little bit more than just a red flag interrupting the earlier Qualifying session that would hinder both #98 and #99 cars as the race progressed.


With Daniel Keilwitz and Hugo de Sadeleer starting the #99 and #98 cars from P15 and P20 on the grid respectively, neither were able to positively adjust their track positions in the opening stint of the race as, despite an obvious power differential, the fast, sweeping but narrow circuit left things very difficult to overtake with machinery so technologically similar.

At the halfway mark both cars pitted for their minimum time pit stops but by when both cars had swapped to both Maxime Martin (#99) and Valentin Hasse-Clot (#98) and the remainder of the field had also completed theirs the #99 car had risen to P12 and the #98 P20!!!


This little degree of progression doesn't mean that there was little in the way of good racing - which there was - particularly with Hasse- Clot battling with Lucas Luhr for position just as the expected rain finally began to fall onto the circuit with only six minutes remaining.

For Hasse-Clot, that was bad news as he would spin around on track loosing further positions before ultimately stopping on the finish line with some technical issue just as the leaders were taking the chequered flag. For Martin in the #99 car, he would take the flag and in P10 which was testament to his race craft in the wet conditions whilst on slicks.


Then, later comes news that the #99 car has been excluded from the results due to a technical infringement concerning the cars fire extinguisher at post race scrutineering.

So- including their GT4 side of operations and two races they were rewarded with three DNF's and an exclusion  for all their effort - it can't get any worse so tomorrow is simply another day and the character of a team is always determined in just how they respond to adversity such as this.

Onwards and upwards then guys!!

Photo credit - ADAC GT Masters