This is the car WestCoast Racing will use to fightfor the TTA championship in 2012. The new championship for 2012 starts in May and May 2nd will be the first time the car is driven on the track when the official pre-season testing in TTA opens up.
”I’m extremely happy our TTA-challenger is finally ready,” team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth says. ”We are proud BMW has given us the faith to continue our long term cooperation and represent them as the BMW Dealer Team. Together with BMW we have designed this car, it’s a long term project and a brand new concept that has takene us a lot of work to prepare. This is the final piece in the largest racing programme our team has even started with four cars in TTA in addition to our two GT-cars that with race programs both in Sweden and Germany.”

Four time Swedish champion Richard Göransson is one of the teams four drivers in TTA and he is looking forward to the new season with high expectations.
”This new car demands a lot from the driver and there is an incredible amount of work by the team behind this car. Our new TTA-racer will be fighting for the victories this year and I’ve been training hard to be able to be the first TTA-champion. I’m really looking forward to drive the car in just a few days,” he says.

WestCoast Racing will enter four cars in TTA. Richard Göransson and Fredrik Larsson will represent BMW Dealer Team WestCoast Racing with Martin Öhlin and Andreas Ebbesson representing WestCoast Racing. The TTA season starts in Karlskoga May 11th-12th.

Photo: Motorsportbild.de

The start of the racing season proved to be tough for WestCoast Racing. After having finished 14th yesterday, and being as high up as fourth place, the second race of the weekend at Oschersleben did not go as expected. The team was forced to retire with a broken steering after Martin Matzke was hit by the #44 Mercedes, a collision that damaged the right front.

Martin Matzke took the start which for the second time this weekend became a bit chaotic. He started from 20th place from the grid and managed to avoid the chaos in the run down to the tight first left hand corner. He exited the corner in 24th place, a position he held through most of the stint which he described as very diffcult to drive.
”It was a difficult stint. We were low on power and also had a lot of understeer so I struggled a lot. When the Mercedes overtook me I gave him plenty of room and just stayed out of his way but he still hit me. I could continue but the car was too badly damaged. This was a difficult race but we’ll come back,” he said.

Martin could drive his stint and hand over to Fredrik Lestrup but three laps after the driver change the steering proved to be too damaged to continue and Fredrik was forced to retire from the race in the pits.
”There’s not much to say really. It felt good when I drove out and the pace the first laps after the stop was pretty ok but three laps later it was impossible to steer right and that was that. It’s obviously not what we hoped for but this has been a tough weekend from the start. We will come back at the next race instead,” Fredrik said.

Teammanager Dick Jönsson Wigroth stated the obvious after the race, the first race weekend of the year in ADAC GT Masters just never went as the team expected it. Now WestCoast Racing has five weeks to prepare for the second round in the championship.
”This was just not simply our weekend. We fought against the odds from the start and our hope quickly changed to just be able to drive through the two races and gain experience. The race yesterday went pretty ok given the circumstances but today it unfortunately didn’t go our way at all. There was nothing Martin could do to avoid the accident, he just kept out of trouble but sometimes things like this happens. We know both the team and the car has the pace, we just need things to go our way a little bit more. We look forward to have five weeks to prepare for the race weekend at Zandvoort,” he summarizes.

The next race weekend in ADAC GT Masters takes place at Zandvoort in Holland May 4th – 6th.

Raceresults, race 2 ADAC GT Masters Oschersleben

Foto: Motorsportbild.de

WestCoast Racing chosed the safe option in the first race of the season in ADAC GT Masters. A rain soaked track just before start but with sun on the horizon made the tyre choice tricky. WestCoast Racing went with the majority of the field and started on rain tyres, a choice that paid off at the start of the race but later became an disadvantage as the track quickly dried. After having been as high up as fourth place the team dropped back with a tyre change and finished the race in 14th position with Fredrik Lestrup and Martin Matzke driving.

Fredrik Lestrup took the first stint and from tenth place on the grid he managed to sneak through the first corner chaos and exit in fifth place. A lap later he had climbed to fourth place and started gaining on the leaders. But about eight minutes into the race he was forced to enter the pits and change to slick tyres. That dropped him back out of top 20 but he could climb back up through the field. When he entered the pits for the second time, now for the mandatory driver change, he had with a combination of overtaking and others having made pitstops climbed to a 12th place.
”I’m reasonably happy with my stint,” Fredrik said afterwards. ”This was a typical weather affected race and we took the safe choice and started on rain tyres. Before the tyre change I was among the fastest on the track and the car was working really well. The team had found a good set-up and the car was very well balanced and felt quick. Unfortunately I was turned around by a Porsche after my first stop and that cost us a lot of time. But the important thing is that we now have a race under our belt and are ready for tomorrow. I’m very happy with Martins stint, we both drove well throughout our stints and I believe we will be strong together going forward.”

Midway into the race Martin Matzke took over the steering wheel and he quickly established himself in 15th place. He drove on a pace matching the leaders out in the front and showed the BMW works well over a race distance. Towards the end he, like many others, fought with worn tyres but he still managed to keep a quick pace and could finish the race in 14th place.
”It was a nice race overall,” Martin said. ”It was a difficult decision which tyres to start on and with hindsight we should have started on slicks but this was the safe choice. I’m impressed by Fredrik’s stint and he drove a really good race. The track was ok during my stint but the rain had made it very dirty and difficult to drive on. Nevertheless, the car felt really good, I felt confident with it and we had a good set-up and very good tyre wear. Overall I’m happy, we finished which was the main goal and if we have a dry race tomorrow I think we will be good.”

The theme of the day was to finish the race and team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth is happy to have fulfilled that target. The team showed that the BMW has a competitive pace and works well over a race distance.
”We finished the race and that was the main thing today. Now we have gotten this weekend off to a start and we have a first race under our belt. We went for safety today and chosed rain tyres for the start. It’s easy to know better with hindsight but this was a safe decision I’m happy we took. Now we are on our way and Fredrik and Martin both drove a good race without making any mistakes. This feels good for the race tomorrow, now we are ready to move on and take the next step,” he summarized.

Results from race 1 in ADAC GT Masters will be uploaded here during the afternoon as soon as these results are final.

WestCoast Racing put safety first in the first GT Masters qualifying session for the season and qualified 10th and 20th respectively for the races on Saturday and Sunday.

Fredrik Lestrup drove the first 45 minute long qualifying stint and qualified in 10th place. After a busy period preparing for the race he drove his first laps in anger in qualifying and is happy with the effort under the circumstances.
”I have to say I’m happy with this. Despite the fact we haven’t had time to do many laps we are still on the pace. I’m please, especially considering these were my first laps on the new tyres. There’s much more time to extract from both me and the car and it’s difficult to time the traffic right so there’s more to come. The team has done a great job to get the car ready for qualifying and now we are looking forward to the race. The important thing is to finish the race but we do have a chance to score some points. I’m happy,” Fredrik says.

Martin Matzke drove the second stint in qualifying and set a time identical to the time his team mate did in the first race. He was in 10th place for a long time but towards the end of qualifying the times dropped and he ended up qualifying in 20th place.
”I’m quite happy even though I got a lot of traffic on my best laps. The first laps were really good and I didn’t take any chances. Fredrik did a good job and we have a good position for the race tomorrow and the most important thing for us now is to finish the race,” Martin summarized.

Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth is pleased with the team’s first effort in qualifying. He points out the most important thing now is to have a trouble free weekend for the races.
”This was good, for us the important thing is to get a solid start to the season. It’s not at this weekend the championship will be decided and we have a good position for both races on Saturday and Sunday.”

Results, Q1
Results, Q2

WestCoast Racing starts the racing season 2012 with the start of ADAC GT Masters. At Oschersleben in Germany the team’s GT Masters drivers Fredrik Lestrup and Martin Matzke will take on the first race of the season. Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth looks forward to the start of the racing season.
”It’s been a fight against the clock for us to be ready but now we are finally there”, he says. ”It’s a bit of an unknown where we stand but we do know the competition is tough and that we have prepared ourselves as good as possible under the circumstances. Our target for this weekend must be to get a solid start and most importantly finish both races, score some points and collect as much data as possible for the rest of the season. There are a lot of new things for us, the BMW is newly developed for this year, the team is in many ways new and this is also the first race together for Fredrik and Martin. The key to a successful weekend is to get everything to run together smoothly as quick as possible.”

Fredrik Lestrup did a few races for WestCoast Racing in GT Masters last year in preparation for this season. He now aims for a good start to the season and believes the team will quickly be up to speed.
”It’s been a long winter and I look forward to finally going racing”, he says. ”We haven’t had as much time as we would have wished to prepare everything so it will be exciting to see where we and the new car stand. If everything gels I believe we can be competitive but you can’t take anything for granted in this competition. Martin and I must also quickly get up to speed and find a way to work together, he is experienced and genuinely quick so I think we will work well together. I look forward to the start of the season, Oschersleben is a track I know well and like and we are finally in the starting blocks!”

Martin Matzke is eager to start the season. He’s done a testday with the team and believes they will have a good chance this year.
”It’s finally time. I’ve driven a first test together with Fredrik and the team and it feels good. They are experienced and competent and I’ve been well received so everything feels good. The target is of course to fight at the top but the most important thing will be to finish the races. I like Oschersleben, it’s a track that suits me well and I’ve had some good results there from previous races. I always go there with somewhat higher expectations than usual. It’s a mid-fast track I’ve driven many times and I look forward to this weekend.”

WestCoast Racing will report from the weekend on both the website, the team Twitter feed and Facebook page.

Schedule, ADAC GT Masters Oschersleben:

Friday March 30th:
08:30, Free practice 60 minutes
11:55, Free practice 60 minutes
15:30, Qualifying 90 minutes

Saturday March 31st:
12:30, Race 1 60 minutes

Sunday April 1st::
08:55, Warm up 15 minutes
12:30, Race 1 60 minutes