Eventful highs and lows in the ADAC GT4 Germany opener for the Doer Motorsport AMR
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Competing at the twisty Oschersleben Circuit to the south-west of Berlin, this opening round of the ADAC Series was the first competitive outing for both Phil Dorr and Andreas Wirth aboard the #69 AMR Vantage GT4 and with Dorr having qualified the car in eighth out of a grid of twenty-three cars, the opening hour-long race on Saturday was always going to be eventful particularly with dark clouds hanging menacingly in the distance.
A terrific start from Dorr saw him accelerate up from P8 to P5 on the opening lap as the top six cars broke away from the pack but still had work on his hands to stay in contention with those ahead before an unexpected gap in the broadcast then saw us re-join the live stream on the final lap!
Whatever transpired in the intervening laps saw that Dorr had made the most of his stint before handing over to Wirth at the halfway mark, who then in turn took the #69 AMR up to P3 in time for the chequered flag.
Whilst that was great work and nothing more than deserved, Sundays second race rapidly turned into something of a nightmare for both drivers and despite similar track conditions.
This time, it was Wirth’s turn to Qualify the car earlier in the day and he put the car slightly further up the grid than on Saturday in P5 as the race went green. An early incident left one car stranded on the start straight and that lead to a brief Safety Car period for its removal but once it went back to green with Wirth battling hard in a group running P2 to P7.
With the then P2 placed Porsche actively baulking the cars behind, opportunist moves from the cars ahead of Wirth allowed him to ‘have a go’ at this Porsche but ended up losing a position to boot before having to defend his now P6 position.
Two episodes followed for Wirth with high-speed excursions off track, lucky to re-join in one but at least the car was nearly still in one piece as he handed the car over to Dorr just before the halfway mark.
Unfortunately for Dorr, the damage was already done (literally to the green livered car) as he endured two ‘offs’ of his own in his opening laps before eventually being forced to retire the car some twelve laps before the end.
Not a bad opening race for the team considering, Saturday’s opening podium will give them the confidence that the car has the potential but Sunday’s race will be a timely reminder of the competitive nature of present day GT4 racing as the Series looks to visiting the Red Bull Ring in Austria in about a month’s time.
Their time will come soon enough.
Photo credits – ADAC GT4 / Team
