In recent weeks, the team Car Collection Motorsport from Walluf did a mammoth program. The team led by team principal Peter Schmidt started with two Audi R8 LMS at the legendary 24H race at the Nürburgring and put two more Audi R8 LMS into the Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup. Only two days later they went to the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Last weekend, an Audi R8 LMS GT3, an Audi R8 LMS GT4 and a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup were used here.
The weather god had everything ready for the participants of the ADAC Zurich 24h race. After the race started in sunny and dry conditions, it started to rain during the night. On Sunday, there was still fog, which even led to a break. The two Audi R8 LMS GT3 cars used by Car Collection Motorsport mastered the difficult conditions. The start number 14 with Christian Bollrath, Stefan Aust, Ronnie Saurenmann and Peter Schmidt won the class PRO-AM. Supported by Audi Sport customer racing driver Pierre Kaffer, Simon Trummer, Adrien de Leener, and Christopher Friedrich drove a flawless race in the sister car #15. In their first 24-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife they finished on an excellent 20th place overall.
However, the crew of Car Collection Motorsport did not have much time to rest. Already on Wednesday of last week they went to the Red Bull Ring in Austria. With three cars they started at the DMV-GTC. On the Audi R8 LMS GT3 #18 drove Dirg Parhofer and Dirk Vorländer. New in the team since the weekend is Jürgen Marschlich and his Audi R8 LMS GT4 #66. Toni Wolf, who also starts in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany for the team from the Rheingau, drove the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #70. Wolf shone in his first appearance and took three times the class victory. With his Cup Porsche, he also asserted himself against the much faster GT3 vehicles. In the first race, he finished in 12th place overall after a drive-through penalty. He finished in 6th place in race 2, and the Dunlop 60, in which GT3 vehicles from the Czech GT Championship started, drove Wolf from 20th place to 12th place.
Next weekend they will continue to Italy. Last year, they won the first edition of the HANKOOK 12H IMOLA and clinched their one-two victory in the A6-AM class. After the class victories in Silverstone and Navarra, they are leading the standing of the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP. In Imola, it is important to score as many points as possible in order to further extend the lead. Two Audi R8 LMS GT3 will be launching Car Collection Motorsport for this task. The #33 is shared by Ali Capan, Siegfried Kuzdas, Horst Felbermayr Jr. and Isaac Tutumlu Lopez. The sister car #34 is controlled by dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, Gustav Edelhoff, Elmar Grimm and Ingo Vogler.
Peter Schmidt is likely to be extremely satisfied with the start of the season for his team. The cars used in 2018 brought already 7 class wins as well as further podiums. In the 24H GT Series, the team leads the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP and as well Elmar Grimm leads the drivers‘ standings. Christopher Friedrich, who starts with Car Collection Motorsport in the ADAC GT Masters, ranks third in the Pirelli Junior Trophy. Even in the hotly contested Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, in the first race it was possible to finish in the TOP 10 and score points in both races.
Peter Schmidt: „We had a great start into the season and I have to say a big compliment to my whole team. Our calendar does not give us much time to breathe, but they all do a great job and I’m proud of the results so far. We will continue to work hard to build on the results achieved.”
