The second half of the ADAC GT Masters season starts this weekend for WestCoast Racing and the team makes a drivers change for the coming two weekends. The team’s Swedish TTA-driver Martin Öhlin will step in and share the car with Fredrik Lestrup at Red Bull Ring this weekend and Lausitzring two weeks later. He will replace Martin Matzke for these two rounds.
”Earlier this year we, together with our partners, planned to have Martin Öhlin drive two races for us in ADAC GT Masters,” team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth explains. ”Martin will drive the coming two races together with Fredrik Lestrup. We want to take this opportunity to thank Martin Matzke for his efforts in the first four race weekends with us and we’ll keep all doors open for the last two race weekends.”

Martin Öhlin drives his third season for WestCoast Racing and competes in the newly formed TTA championship in Sweden this season. He has also driven a race for the team in the Z4 in the Swedish GT-league and now looks forward to face the competition in ADAC GT Masters.
”It will be a lot of fun to make my first start in GT Masters and drive the BMW Z4 again,” Martin says. I expect a tough but fun weekend at Red Bull Ring which looks like an exciting track. I look forward to drive a Z4 for a Swedish team in Europe and share the car with Fredrik. We work very well together and our goal is of course to do our best.”

Fredrik Lestrup looks forward to restart the season again and compete at Red Bull Ring, a track he hasn’t raced at before.
”I look forward to have Martin Öhlin as a team mate for the coming two races,” Fredrik says. ”We have a good cooperation and I hope we can have a smooth weekend. Red Bull Ring looks like a fun track but it’s hard to say how well it will suit our car. There are parts of the track which looks like them plays to the advantage of our car but there are also two long straights. Overtaking might be tricky here so qualifying will be very important this weekend. I look forward to a good race weekend at a fantastic venue.”

The ADAC GT Masters weekend at Nürburgring was difficult for WestCoast Racing and the team didn’t score any points in the two races. Fredrik Lestrup and Martin Matzke finished 16th in the Saturday race and in the Sunday race they finished in where they started in 19th position. Just as on Saturday the second race was also run under mixed conditions with a heavy shower of rain shortly before the start making it a wet race. The rain came and went during the race and and during the second half of the race the track dried up as the rain stopped.

As in the previous race WestCoast Racing struggled for pace in the wet conditions and Fredrik Lestrup who drove the first stint struggled for grip throughout the stint.
”This is of course not a result we are happy with and this weekend we struggled for pace here. My first stint today was very difficult to drive in the wet. We struggled for grip and I had to fight very hard just to avoid losing too many positions. We never found the pace in the car when the track was wet. As it dried up the pace came to us and Martin did a good stint and could recover some positions. We did at least finish both races with the car in one piece. I now look forward to the next round at Red Bull Ring, a track I’ve never been too and should be fun to race the BMW Z4 on,” Fredrik said.

Martin Matzke stayed on the rain tyres as he went out in the second stint to finish the race. The pace picked up as the track dried up and he could recover some positions and take the car home in 19th position.
”We are not happy with the result but this is all we had this time. Both Fredrik and I did two good clean stints, the team did a good pitstop and we made no mistakes. The car was good in the dry but just as yesterday we struggled when it was wet. We couldn’t do more today,” Martin said.

The next race weekend for WestCoast Racing in ADAC GT Masters is the Austrian round at Red Bull Ring August 10th-12th.

Results, race 2 ADAC GT Masters Nürburgring

WestCoast Racing drivers Fredrik Lestrup and Martin Matzke finished 16th in the first ADAC GT Masters race at Nürburgring after having started 20th. The race was run in difficult conditions with the field starting behind the safety car due to wet conditions. During the race the rain stopped and the track dried up partially with the rain coming and going. Some teams elected to change to slicks in the pit stop where as WestCoast Racing and others stayed on the rain tyres the whole race.

Martin Matzke drove the first stint and intitially climbed several places until he lost some grip in the tyres and fell back. He went into the pits around 22nd place halfway through the race.
”It was a difficult race in difficult conditions. I made a good start but towards the end of the stint it was very slippery and I struggled for grip. At least we finished the race with the car in one piece and gained some positions. I hope for a dry race tomorrow as I think it will suit our car better,” Martin said of this stint and race.

Fredrik Lestrup took over the steering wheel and drove the last stint. He was in the midst of an intense battle, overtook six cars and fought for positions just outside the points. He was happy with the stint but had hoped for a better position.
”It was actually one of the best races I’ve driven and a lot of fun racing other cars the whole stint. It is not the position we hoped for but we knew it would be tough to score points today. At least we had some good race pace and could gain a lot of places. The tyres overheated the last two laps which cost me a position. It was exciting with the conditions changing so much and with some driving in slicks and others on rain tyres. Each lap was completely different, nothing stayed the same for more than one lap. The car felt better today so now we prepare for another day and new conditions tomorrow,” Fredrik said.

The second race starts at 12.30 tomorrow Sunday. Fredrik Lestrup then starts and takes the first stint.

Raceresult, race 1 ADAC GT Masters Nürburgring

It was a tricky qualifying session for WestCoast Racing at Nürburgring for the two races in ADAC GT Masters. The track was soaked in rain during the two practice sessions in the morning but just in time for qualifying the rain stopped and the sun came out.

Martin Matzke qualified 20th for the Saturday race, a position he was not too happy with.
”The car was pretty good but we didn’t quite time it right. We set our best time a few laps too soon as it looked like the rain would come back. It didn’t and several cars could improve after us. I think we could have qualified in top 5 with some better timing. It’s difficult to start in the middle of the pack in the race but we have to do our best. The goal is to get in the points,” he said.

Fredrik Lestrup drove the second qualifying session determining the grid order for the Sunday race. He qualified 19th and said afterwards the pace just wasn’t there.
”It was a tricky qualifying for us. We have not tested here and with rain during practice but dry weather in qualifying it was very tricky for us. The balance wasn’t quite there and we have a lot to think about before the race. It’s our worse qualifying this season but we’ll try and turn it around and go for points in both races,” Fredrik said.

39 cars qualified for the two ADAC GT Masters races at Nürburgring which start at 12:30 on both Saturday and Sunday.

Results, qualifying 1
Results, qualifying 2

It’s time for the fourth round in the competitive ADAC GT Masters, this time held at the Nürburgring GP-circuit. WestCoast Racing heads there with high expectations after a competitive weekend at Sachsenring that unfortuanetly didn’t net the results the team was looking for. Fredrik Lestrup hopes for another competitive outing but knows the Nürburgring track poses different challenges for the BMW Z4 GT3.
”We have the pace, both in the team and the car so I’m hopeful for the weekend. We are a bit unsure how this track will suit the car but it’s much more competitive this year so if we can get the final adjustments right I believe we can score some good results. We have come a long way with developing the car but it’s so incredibly tight in this field so just a few tenths can mean a lot of places up or down on the grid. We definetly aim for the up.”

The team has driven two races in the Swedish GT championship and won both races. For Fredrik it has been a chance to warm up for the ADAC GT Masters and he is looking forward to coming back to Nürburgring.
”It’s a track I know very well and I have driven there a lot. I usually do good there and it’s always special to be there and I know the track inside out. We have had a nice time back in Sweden racing with the car and it’s been a nice warm up for this weekend. I’m happy it is time to race in GT Masters again, we must get it all together and score some good results this weekend,” he finishes.

Nürburgring is also one of Martin Matzke’s favourite tracks and he shares his team mates view on how the car will suit the track.
”For me this has always been a good track I like a lot and I’ve hade many good races here. It’s difficult to say how the track will suit our car. There are some sections where we will be very strong, for instance the medium fast corners and braking areas, but also some parts like the straights where we might struggle a bit. We will do our best and I think that if we can qualify and race well inside top 10 it will be very good for us.”

The team was competitive at Sachsenring but didn’t manage to bring the result. Matzke were fifth in the second race when a mistake a few laps from home forced him to retire. He hopes for a repeat of the competitive form the team showed last time.
”Sachsenring was good but we were also very unlucky there and we didn’t get the results we were hoping for. Unfortunately I also made a mistake in the last race but that’s racing, it’s so competitive here and you have to push and this can happen. The car is working well so hopefully we can make it work as well at Nürburgring. I expect a tough weekend but we will do our best to bring home points from both races.”

The GT Masters weekend starts on Friday with two practice sessions followed by the two qualifying sessions. The first race is on Saturday with the second race on Sunday. Live timing and results can be found on the official ADAC GT Masters website http://www.adac-gt-masters.de/.

Time schedule