Oschersleben, Germany – 28th April 2024
Emil Frey Racing experienced a real rollercoaster ride of emotions at the opening weekend of the DTM and ADAC GT Masters in the Motorsportarena Oschersleben: After a terrific pole position, the Swiss team secured victory in the first DTM race with Jack Aitken – but unfortunately, luck was not on the Ferrari drivers’ side on Sunday and both Jack Aitken and Thierry Vermeulen had to retire due to accidents. In the ADAC GT Masters, Emil Frey Racing achieved solid Top-10 results on their debut with Jean-Luc D’Auria and Alain Valente.
DTM
Emil Frey Racing demonstrated the performance of the Ferrari 296 GT3 in impressive style when Jack Aitken took pole position for the first race of the season with a 0.104-second advantage in the number 14 racing car. His team-mate Thierry Vermeulen was unlucky with a red flag and qualified only in eleventh place.
The Englishman dominated the race from the start and maintained the lead even after the mandatory pitstop. What followed resembled a thriller and kept both the team and the spectators in the grandstands on the edge of their seats. Thanks to a clever strategy, the Schubert Motorsport team reacted with lightning speed at a Full-Course-Yellow and brought Wittmann into the pits, which put the BMW driver at the head of the field. Aitken was initially in second place but never lost contact with the front runner.
With just four minutes of the race remaining, Wittmann retired due to a lack of petrol and Aitken took the lead again. The way was clear for the Englishman and he deservedly secured the second DTM victory for himself and the team after his triumph at the Lausitzring last year. Vermeulen set strong lap-times in the race and crossed the finishing line in ninth place.
Qualifying for the second race on Sunday was also promising and with positions three (Jack Aitken #14) and nine (Thierry Vermeulen #69), the team had good starting positions for the one-hour DTM race.
However, Aitken’s race was already over in the third corner when he made contact with an opponent and suffered a puncture. Vermeulen, on the other hand, made-up a position at the start and was also in a promising Top-10 position after the pitstop – but he was involved in a collision with Rast’s BMW at the end of the race and retired.
ADAC GT Masters
The start of the ADAC GT Masters after a year of absence brought two solid Top-10 results. Alain Valente took over qualifying on Saturday and placed the number 14 Ferrari 296 GT3 in seventh place on the grid – and after a strong performance together with his team-mate Jean-Luc D’Auria, the Swiss duo also finished in this position.
D’Auria placed the number 14 in fifth place on the grid on Sunday morning and after an eventful race with two penalty laps, the team finished the race in sixth place.
Team Quotes Emil Frey Racing
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal
“After the successful start to the season on Saturday, Sunday was of course all the more disappointing for all of us. Winning the first race of the year is always something very special and a reward for the whole team, who worked so hard over the winter to make this success possible. In the ADAC GT Masters, we were able to achieve two Top-10 results, but we have definitely not yet realised all of our potential.”
Jürg Flach, Technical Director
“We had good speed throughout the weekend, which was emphasised by our pole position and Jack’s victory in the DTM on Saturday. It was important and a well-deserved reward for the whole team. The DTM race on Sunday was very unfortunate and a shame, as we were unable to capitalise on the good starting positions. The results in the ADAC GT Masters laid an important foundation stone at the start of the season. The potential for more is there and we can certainly utilise it even better in the next races.”
Driver Quotes DTM
Jack Aitken (Great Britain) #14
“It was fantastic to start the season like this and a deserved success for the team, who worked so hard in pre-season to improve the car. There was a bit of panic when Wittman got lucky with the strategy and took the lead, but that luck came back to us when he retired with a problem. On Sunday, our plan was to do our best with the extra ballast, but unfortunately the race was over for us right at the start.”
Thierry Vermeulen (The Netherlands) #69
“It was a difficult weekend for us. I messed up qualifying myself on Saturday and then a red flag intervened, so I could only start the race from 11th place. It’s very difficult to overtake at Oschersleben, so we had to optimise our strategy in order to get the maximum out of it. The pace I had in the races was very strong. Great team performance with Jack’s victory and more than deserved, we could certainly have achieved a good result on Sunday as well, but we didn’t have luck on our side in the race.”
Driver Quotes ADAC GT Masters
Jean-Luc D´Auria (Switzerland) #14
“I wasn’t very happy with my own performance this weekend and there is definitely room for improvement. In the race on Saturday, we struggled with difficult conditions, as we also started with used tyres. Despite everything, we came back from 12th place to a good seventh place. We have seen that we simply have to learn as a team and also as drivers bit-by-bit.”
Alain Valente (Switzerland) #14
“We certainly fell short of our expectations, especially when you see how well the car performed in the DTM. Qualifying on Saturday was not ideal for us, as the red flag meant that the tyres were off-peak and we only finished in 7th place. In the race we simply lacked a bit of grip. But we analysed a few things from Saturday to Sunday and were able to attack much better in the second race and were satisfied with sixth place.”