Safenwil – September 2nd, 2024
The breakthrough came at last: Jean-Luc D’Auria and Alain Valente secured their first podium in the fourth round of the ADAC GT Masters at Spa-Francorchamps. After a strong second place on Saturday, the team achieved its first Pole Position in the series. However,in a tense start, the #14 Ferrari 296 GT3 was spun out by a competitor, ending their hopes of a race win in the first corner.
Race 1 – Saturday, 31st August 2024
In qualifying for the seventh race of the season, Alain Valente in the #14 Ferrari 296 GT3 qualified in second place by just 0.101 seconds.
In the 80-minute race, there were two mandatory pitstops with driver changes. At the start, Alain Valente defended his position on the inside through La Source and continued to extend his gap to the #63 Lamborghini in third place.
Within the first quarter of an hour, however, a stranded BMW caused a Safety Car phase and brought the field closer together again. The team maintained second place after the first pitstop.
At the finish, the two Swiss drivers Alain Valente and Jean-Luc D’Auria secured their first podium of the season with second place.
Race 2 – Sunday, 01st September 2024
The first podium on Saturday in the ADAC GT Masters was promptly followed by the first Pole Position on Sunday morning by Jean-Luc D’Auria. The #14 Ferrari 296 GT3 led the field of 18 GT3 cars in the formation lap around the rollercoaster circuit. But at the start there was an incident with the #1 Mercedes into the first corner and Jean-Luc D’Auria spun in the #14 Ferrari.
The Emil Frey Racing Ferrari was the last car to follow the field into the 40-minute sprint race but had to retire on lap 8 due to the resulting damage.
The fifth round of the ADAC GT Masters will take place from 27th to 29th September 2024, together with the DTM as a doubleheader at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Team Quotes Emil Frey Racing
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal
“It’s a real shame not to have made it onto the podium after Pole Position. The speed was there, as you saw with the podium on Saturday. The consistently good lap times of both drivers were also very positive.”
Jürg Flach, Technical Director
“The weekend was good; the car was very competitive from the start and the drivers performed well. To finish the first race in second place was a really good result. When you start from Pole Position, it’s obviously a shame not to have made more of the startingposition.”
Driver Quotes #14
Jean-Luc D´Auria (Switzerland)
“Our race pace on Saturday was great. We gave it everything we had and are mega happy with our first podium win, because we were finally able to give something back to the team for all their hard work. The Pole Position on Sunday underlined the Ferrari’s strong performance this weekend. Unfortunately, the Mercedes braked a little too late today and touched us in the process, for which it also received a penalty. We could have brought that home, but despite everything, we have come back strong from the summer break and will continue like this at the Red Bull Ring.”
Alain Valente (Switzerland)
“We were finally able to show our potential with Pole Position and a podium. The Mercedes were so much faster than us that we had no chance. We were able to pull out a big gap to third place. Many thanks to the team and my team-mate for their great work.”