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Martin Hofer Reports
Last weekend the MAC Mettenheim was to host the last qualification race for the German National Championships.
The weather forecast was looking good but temperatures up to 35°C meant that the VTec 30X controlled tyres wouldn’t have an easy life.
The race started Saturday with all regular front runners arriving early for some practice on the track which is known to be a bit special as curved bits look straight and curved looking bits are actually straight. Hard to explain but let’s say, so far nobody ever made it through the first run without leaving the track unplanned.
The team was represented with me and Steffen Koch competing in the modified category, whilst Florian Botzenhart and Alex Wild entered the stock category.
This was Florian’s first race as a Schumacher driver and having only finished building his car 2 days prior to the event there was obviously a bit of tension if everything would work fine, but his car was fine straight away and he was happy with the balance it showed.
In practice we messed about with small adjustments like heavier shock oil to compensate the shear heat, as well as different camberlink plates and shims beneath those but soon found the best solution for both categories that would keep the car easy to drive on those unpredictable tyres but still maintain enough steering and aggression to produce quick laptimes.
Qualification was a mixed affair in modified with a lot of people showing good pace.
Some drivers opted to use their second set of tires in qualifying already to boost their grid positions.
I would line up 4th on the grid which is one of the dirty spots on the track and I knew that the start would be crucial.
Steffen Koch ended up 9th on the grid, struggling with a bad set of tyres in qualification.
In Stock it was a battle between Florian and Alex Stocker but with the track getting faster and the tyres older it became clear that Florian’s pace was a bit better than Alex’s and so he TQed 4 of 6 qualifiers and therefore claimed the overall TQ.
The finals in modified where hard fought. Especially as most drivers had to fight the VTec tyres more than other cars!
I set the fastest lap in every single final which showed the potential of the car but in the end I was just a bit too unlucky to do any better. I ended up 3rd and Steffen finished in 7th place.
Florian won the Prostock category in style and finished a perfect first weekend with his new Schumacher ride! Alex Wild finished 4th.
So overall it was a nice and successful weekend for Team Schumacher!
Next up is the ETS final in Austria and then it’s game on at the worlds!
So long, keep racing.
Martin Hofer.