WestCoast Racing expects to face a challenging GT-weekend at Lausitzring just outside Berlin this weekend. The track formed around parts of the oval track and an infield road course with a long straight and several slower corners has proven to be a tough challenge for the BMW’s. Fredrik Lestrup and Martin Öhlins is the driver line-up for WestCoast Racing this weekend again and they expect a tough weekend but has a clear goal.
”It’s not the best track for our car so our main goal is to be ahead of the other BMW-teams,” Fredrik says. ”Just like at Red Bull Ring it’s going to be tough to be competitive here and we will likely see cars in front that isn’t usually there. If we can score some points in the races we have done a very good job. It’s not impossible but our first goal is to be the best BMW. This will be my second weekend driving together with Martin. We worked very well together in Austria and we now have a chance to build on that which will be very important in making this weekend as good as possible. It sure will be interesting!”

Martin Öhlin arrives at Lausitzring for his second weekend in ADAC GT Masters andwith his first podium in the Swedish TTA-championship just behind him. This is another new track for him but he believes there are some chances for a good result.
”I now have a weekend in GT Masters behind me and know more about how it works,” Martin says. ”New tracks is not a problem to learn, instead the challenge here will be to make the car work as good as possible on a track not really suited four our BMW. Fredrik and I worked really good together in our first weekend as team mates and we want the same from the car and this will be important for this weekend. The goal is to be the best placed BMW and try to fight as high up the order as possible. I enjoyed my first GT Masters weekend and look forward to yet another one this weekend!”

Time schedule – ADAC GT Masters, Lausitzring

Friday:
09:00, Free practice 1 hour
11:55, Free practice one hour
16:05, Qualifying 1 + 2, 90 minutes

Saturday
12:30, Race 1 hour

Sunday:
09:10 Warm-up, 15 minutes
12:30 Race 1 hour

Martin Öhlin claimed his first TTA-podium with a measured drive to third place in a chaotic and eventful race at Gelleråsen. The WestCoast Racing-driver has been solid the whole weekend with fast times in all sessions and he didn’t put a foot wrong in the race despite tough racing and tricky conditions with light rain and slick tyres.
”It must be my moustache,” Martin laughed afterwards. ”It’s been good this weekend, I’ve finally come to grips with how to drive these cars and then we get the results. It’s an incredible feelting and I even had to bring out some Nürburgringexperience when it started to rain while we were out there on slicks.”

Martin could consolidate his second place on the grid despite a start he himself was less than impressed with. He then chased down leading Ekblom hard despite two restarts after safety car periods. Towards the end he feel back a bit and got caught by Thed Björk whom he was unable to keep behind.
”My start was a disaster to be honest and it destroyed my plan for the race. Nevertheless I could follow Ekblom closely and felt I was a bit faster than him but not enough to be able to pass. I backed off a bit to save the tyres for an attack towards the end of the race. Instead Thed caught up with me and I was unable to keep him behind me without destroying the tyres completely. At the end of the day it’s a good result and we have started the second half of the season just as strong as we hoped for.”

The other WestCoast Racing drivers were victims in a chaotic start. Andreas Ebbesson got out of the mess with a damaged car and could salvage sixth place. Richard Göransson got hit from just about very angle and finished two laps behind. Fredrik Larsson was forced to retire on the first lap after being a victim in the same start incident as his teammates.
”It was a serious trafic jam there and everyone hit everyone,” Larsson said. ”I managed to stop the car but then I got hit from behind and was pushed into Richard who was pushed into the next car. Usually it ends bad when it starts bad and that was how this weekend was for me. I must fight back at Anderstorp!”

Last race winner Richard Göransson was visibly dissapointed after a tough day from start.
”The first lap was just chaos and I just tried to stay out of it but it was cars everywhere,” Richard said. ”I expected it to be tough but it was even worse than I expected. We had a car to fight for the victory with today even from way down the grid but it was not to be.”

Result, top 10 Anderstorp
1: F. Ekblom
2: T. Björk + 0,803
3: M. Öhlin + 2,184
4: L. Ohlsson + 2,537
5: R. Dahlgren + 10,049
6: A. Ebbesson + 13,348
7: A. Danielsson + 14,108
8: S. Söderberg + 15,865
9: R. Rudholm + 19,340
10: D. Haglöf + 20,317

12: R. Göransson + 2 varv
DNF: Fredrik Larsson

Martin Öhlin continues to set top times during the TTA weekend at Gelleråsen. After having posted the second fastest time in both practice sessions yesterday, Martin fought with championship leader Fredrik Ekblom for pole position in todays qualifying for the race later this afternoon. In the end only a tenth seperated them when qualifying was redflagged with one minute to go. Martin was pleased with his first front row start in TTA.
”Finally! Now it worked as it’s supposed to do and I didn’t even feel like I had to push very hard to get the time. We definetly have the speed this weekend and pole was possible today but I’m happy with second place on the grid. We are on the outside line in the start and as it looks right now that’s the dry line but we’ll have to wait and see. I look forward to the race and I’m very pleased,” Martin said.

His team mates endured a worse qualifying session. Richard Göransson, winner of the last round, qualified a dissapointed 12th after getting caought out by the red flag when he was yet to do his qualifying lap on slicks.
”We just didn’t get the timing right. I had a lap to do on slicks when it was red flagged and we were not on it when it dried up. It sucks to be honest,” he said.

Fredrik Larsson struggled with brake problems during his qualifying and no matter what he did, the brake balance changed and he was dissapointed ending up 13th.
”The brakes just didn’t work properly, a problem we had yesterday that got even worse today. It disrupts the driving and you get lose the rythm and can’t do a good time. We must find a solution for this for the race, right now it’s not very fun,” Fredrik said about his qualifying.

Andreas Ebbesson was just as puzzled after having had problems all weekend. He qualified 15th.
”It’s a disaster. It just doesn’t work for us this weekend and I don’t know why. This will be a tough race.”

The race starts 15:15.

Result, top 10, Qualifying TTA Gelleråsen:
1: Fredrik Ekblom 1:04.388
2: Martin Öhlin + 0,123
3: Linus Ohlsson + 0,151
4: Robin Rudholm + 0,199
5: Thed Björk + 0,306
6: Daniel Haglöf + 0,352
7: Alx Danielsson + 0,356
8: Stefan Söderberg + 0,455
9: Mattias Andersson + 0,500
10: Robert Dahlgren + 0,528

12: Richard Göransson + 0,622
13: Fredrik Larsson + 0,731
15: Andreas Ebbesson + 0,962

A quick pit stop and a couple of laps free from traffick. That’s how WestCoast Racing could climb from 30th on the grid to 16th place at the finish. The weekend at Red Bull Ring didn’t yield any points as the BMW-teams struggled to get competitive on this track.

WestCoast Racing did however managed to build on the speed from Saturday and could climb 14 places in the second race on Sunday. The key to this was one of the fastest pit stops of the race as soon as the pit window was open.

Fredrik Lestrup started the race but got caught in traffic behind cars faster in a straight line preventing any overtaking. When the pit window was opened the team chosed to bring him in early for the mandatory driver change and give Martin Öhlin a few laps clear of traffic. This gained him several places.

Towards the end of his stint and the race Martin Öhlin also got caught behind slower cars with a straighline advantage and when the race eventually was finished behind the safety car he was prevented to climb any further. Fredrik Lestrup and Martin Öhlin finished 16th overall.

”I’m pretty pleased with my stint,” Martin said. ”We did a very good pit stop and I managed to get a few clear laps and could set competitive lap times. Unfortunately I got stuck behind a Camaro for a few too many laps before I managed to get pass. The car worked really well today and the tyres held up great. But this was a track where our car just wasn’t competitive and the overall result is not soemthing to be to pleased with. We got out most of the car in the end but it wasn’t enough. It was a fun weekend though and a good build up for me before my next race weekend in Sweden and TTA already in five days. I already look forward to my second GT Masters weekend in two weeks time at Lausitzring.”

”I had a very messy first stint and I’m not so pleased,” Fredrik Lestrup said afterwards. ”The start was chaotic and I had to go off track to avoid spinning cars in front of me and this cost me a few positions. After that I was stuck in traffic and it was the right decision to bring me in early and get Martin out in clean air. This was a tough weekend for us where our car didn’t suit this track. Unfortunately we know that Lausitzring will be tough for us as well but we’ll take the positives from this weekend and recharge for Lausitzring.”

Results, Race 2 Red Bull Ring

WestCoast Racing didn’t manage to finish the first ADAC GT Masters race of the weekend at Red Bull Ring. But despite that there were positives to bring into Sunday’s race at a track which has proven to be difficult for the BMW’s.

Martin Öhlin and Fredrik Lestrup drove equal lap times in qualifying in their respective qualifying sessions. The time set by Martin Öhlin was enough for 17th place in the grid while the same time set by Fredrik Lestrup only was only good enough for 29th place in the grid for the Sunday race in a faster second qualifying session.

Martin Öhlin took the start stint in todays race and got his stint divided by two periods of safety car after incidents in the early laps. The team chosed to keep Martin out for a bit longer and he went into the pits with 28 minutes remaining of the race to hand over to Fredrik Lestrup. In the pitstop the adjustment arm for the seat broke and the seat was stuck in the rearward position. This delayed the pitstop with an extra 38 seconds and thus ending all hopes of scoring a point. Despite this Fredrik Lestrup managed to keep a strong pace and managed to be faster in the race than the best BMW-time set in qualifying. With four minutes remaining he lost all drive in the BMW and was forced to retire in the pits.

”I didn’t get so many real race laps in my first GT Masters race unfortunately with several laps spent behind the safety car,” Martin said afterwards. ”It’s disapointing we had to retire but the car worked much better today which is promising for tomorrow. We will start even further back then but these races are usually eventful so anything is possible.”

”This track has proven not to suit the BMW but our car felt really good in the race today,” Fredrik said. ”Unfortunately we had to retire when something happened with the gearbox or the clutch and I lost all drive. On top of that the adjustment to the seat got broken in the pitstop so it was a bit challenging. The positives are that we got the feeling back in the car and had a better laptime in the race than set by a BMW in any other session this weekend. Hopefully we can use that in the race tomorrow despite starting a long way back.”

Results, race 1 Red Bull Ring