Safenwil – Switzerland, 29th August 2023
Following the team´s first-ever win in the DTM, Emil Frey Racing´s season continues with the third round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS Sprint Cup. After the short summer break, two highly anticipated Sprint races are taking place at the Hockenheimring this coming weekend. The team travels to Hockenheim in high spirits and would like to build on its latest great performance and recent podium finishes.
It´s the second visit for the GT3 Championship to the Hockenheimring, the first-ever episode of the Sprint Cup. With a length of 4.5 kilometres, the popular track is the longest in the Sprint calendar. Whilst the Motodrom is a great place to overlook the race action and a great viewing spot for fans, there are plenty of other good overtaking possibilities on the wide-asphalted track, such as down at the hairpin.
After four Sprint races, Emil Frey Racing is currently running in 5th place with 30 points in the Sprint-Cup-Standings. With a gap of only 20.5 points to the leading team, anything is still possible in the championship. It also looks promising in the Drivers’ Standings: The drivers Giacomo Altoé/Konsta Lappalainen (#14) and Albert Costa Balboa/Thierry Vermeulen (#69) are currently running in 6th and 7th place, respectively, with the number 14 specifically looking good with only a six points gap to second place.
The first weekend of September will kick off on Friday with Free Practice at 09:30 a.m. Pre-Qualifying follows at 2:20 pm later that afternoon. The 25-minute Qualifying takes place at 09:50 am on Saturday, with the first race commencing at 02:00 pm on the same day. The Qualifying on Sunday is at 09:55 am, with the one-hour race to follow at 02:35 pm.
Team Quotes Emil Frey Racing
Jürg Flach, Technical Director: “Hockenheim involves various requirements. You need good Top-Speed, braking stability and at the same time a “corner-friendly” car. Our current package should cope well with these disciplines. In addition, we tested at Hockenheim in the Spring and know the track very well from the past. So, I’m optimistic and expect to be competitive with our Ferrari.”
Lorenz Frey-Hilti, Team Principal: “We could already test the Ferrari at Hockenheim and got on well with the track. On the long straights, of course, it again depends on which BoP classification we get. But the Motodrom in particular will suit the Ferrari very well and I’m confident that we can build on the performance we showed recently in the DTM at the Lausitzring. Of course, we’re always aiming for a win, but we’re also realistic that this is often very difficult, so we’re also happy with solid Top-10 results.”
Driver Quotes Ferrari 296 GT3 #14
Giacomo Altoè (Italy): “I’m looking forward to Hockenheim. We’re coming from a successful weekend at Misano with our first podium and some great performances. Our goal is of course to race at the front. Hockenheim should be a good track for our Ferrari. Currently, Konsta and I are 6th in the championship with only six points behind second place in our number 14 Ferrari, so anything is still possible. We’ll stay focused and do our job to be at the front.”
Konsta Lappalainen (Finland): “I’m looking forward to the race at Hockenheim, because it’s a very nice track. I hope, we can build on our success at Misano and this time fight for a podium finish and maybe even a win.”
Driver Quotes Ferrari 296 GT3 #69
Albert Costa Balboa (Spain): “I’m looking forward to racing again. The team has done a great job with the car over the last few weeks and that motivates me a lot to do my best, as always, and try to have a really good weekend. There aren’t many races left in the championship and I’m full of adrenaline and can’t wait to get behind the wheel again. After winning the DTM, the team is in high spirits and we’ll try to keep the momentum going.”
Thierry Vermeulen (Netherlands): “I raced at Hockenheim last year in the ADAC GT Masters and I really like the track. It’s always nice to come to Hockenheim. We tested there at the beginning of the season and our car should run well, but it’s always difficult to say beforehand. We have been extremely fast in the GT World Challenge. Both at Brands Hatch and Misano we were always strong in terms of speed. Obviously, after our strong performance at Misano, our goal is to get another podium at Hockenheim and I think the weekend should be successful for us.”
CONTACT
Maria-Alejandra Rüeger
Emil Frey Racing
Schürmattstrasse, CH-5745 Safenwil
T: +41 (0) 79 567 25 18
mr@emilfreyracing.com