CHALLENGING WEEKEND AT THE LAUSITZRING
The fifth round of the ADAC GT Masters took place this weekend at DEKRA Lausitzring in eastern Germany. A first on the circuit that did not go as expected. Ezequiel Companc and Juuso Puhakka could not go for points this time.
The team would have had only three short private sessions on Thursday to discover the track and find the right set up. A broken engine at the beginning of the first official free practice session reduced the testing opportunities. The crew spent part of the day repairing Malena in order to be able to participate in Saturday's qualifying.
The first race has been hectic. After two first laps under safety car due to the heavy rain, the duo managed to stay out of trouble. In Race 2, unfortunately some damage on Malena forced the team to retire her before the end. Anyway, with the little data collected and a crazy weather forecast, the team has done its best.
Once again, Madpanda was pleased to meet its incredible amount of German fans, some of them wearing its merchandising.* Despite the weather, the Family & Friends Festival was a success for the 21500 people who attended the race weekend.
It's now time to go back to Spain for a week before returning to Germany for the penultimate round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. The 3-hour race takes place on September 2/4 at the Hockenheimring circuit.
Juuso Puhakka, driver: “Tough weekend but positives. First of all, it was nice to be back in a Mercedes and with the Pandas. Also, I loved the ADAC GT Masters concept : fans are involved and tough sprint racing. Thanks to the Madpanda crew for their job!”
Ezequiel Companc, driver and team principal: “It was a tricky weekend with the changing conditions and the engine problem we had on Friday due to a curb. The crew did a mega job getting the car ready again, and Juuso did a great debut in the series. We will analyze the data from the weekend and come back stronger as a team. Thanks to all the fans that came to support us! It was amazing to get to see them!”
