The best banked corner conquerors at Eurospeedway Lausitz:
two action-packed PRTC victories for Tim Schestag, finishing just ahead of Robin Renz
Eurospeedway Lausitz. The modern Lausitzring near Berlin (Brandenburg) awaited the Pfister-Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC) racers from September 9 to 11, 2022. The racetrack was driven in the long 4.543-kilometer track version on the DMV Racing Weekend. In addition to long straights with close barriers, the track challenged the drivers with a demanding “in-field” as well as a banked corner just before the start-finish straight. In addition, the weather was also to play an important part: changeable conditions awaited the drivers and teams in the Lausitz region.
All races were broadcast in a live stream with commentary on the organizer’s website.
The PRTC was once again dominated by ambitious novices, fast newcomers and talented gentleman drivers, who provided an explosive mix with the ultimate touring car action.
“Real cars, real racing. That’s the motto of our racing series. We offer professionally organized races with appealing touring cars in 4 qualifying categories, at reasonable costs and with good marketing. We are already in the second half of the season and the races are getting even more exciting every time. This is how real touring car motor racing should be!” said organizer Andreas Pfister at the start of the racing weekend.
Local hero Marco Bedrich (GER) from Cottbus made it onto the podium at his home race
All the racing cars are equipped with standard tires from TOYO TIRES, with the semi-slick Proxes R888R or RS1 Slick Proxes, which in combination with the central fielding and “rotating system” on the CHEVROLET and CUPRA racing cars (class 1 and 2) from Pfister-Racing GmbH, allow for a competitive race at affordable costs.
The winner of the 2022 Pfister Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC) in class 2 will receive a free test drive in the 350 hp TCR racing car.
Robin Renz takes pole position and makes his ambitions clear
On Friday, the drivers were able to get to grips with the track and conditions during the free test sessions. The track was regularly wet again due to gathering showers, which resulted in worse gripping conditions. However, with the Proxes R888R semi-slick tires from the manufacturer TOYO TIRES, the race cars were ideally equipped for these conditions.
The racers had to show their hand for the first time in the qualifying session to determine the starting grid for race 1 on Saturday morning: Robin Renz (GER, Stuttgart) was able to continue his strong form and set the best time for class 2 on the still cold asphalt with a lap time of 2:23:626. Rookie Simon de Mori (AUT, Hörbranz) also made it into the first row of the grid, just a few thousandths of a second behind. Behind them, there was another strong starting row with Tim Schestag (GER, Walldorf) and Marco Bedrich (GER, Cottbus).
Thomas Eckert (GER, Nuremberg) made it to 5th place on the grid ahead of Dirk Ehlebracht (GER, Oberursel).
Tim Schestag (GER, Walldorf) VS. Robin Renz (GER, Stuttgart) was the duel for both races
After qualifying, the drivers only had a short breather, because the first race was already about to start. The track conditions had improved in the meantime and the racetrack had dried completely.
After the start Robin Renz took the lead first. Second placed driver de Mori, on the other hand, did not fare well – he had to drop a few positions. Tim Schestag took immediate advantage of this to catch up directly with the leader.
Behind them, Marco Bedrich was also a winner at the start, but had to earn his third place with tough battles against Dirk Ehlebracht and then also Simon de Mori.
Another local hero from Berlin got along better and better in his touring car: Martin Held (GER) had his CUPRA Ibiza racing car under control and even managed to overtake some faster race cars.
A good weekend for Simon de Mori: notching up 3rd place and 5th place!
After the first few laps, both the leaders and the midfield began to get a lay of the land: Renz was put under more and more pressure from Schestag and Ehlebracht had to use all his experience to stay within striking distance of Bedrich.
Then a sensation in the fight for victory: Schestag once again slid into the slipstream of Renz and pulled onto the inside line. Renz wanted to prevent this and also steered to the right, leading to a collision. Robin Renz had to take a spin in the grass, but impressively managed to get back on the track ahead of the third-placed driver.
Tim Schestag then left no stone unturned despite minor injuries to his racing car and added another victory crossing the finish line ahead of Renz. 3rd place went to a happy Marco Bedrich in front of his home crowd ahead of Dirk Ehlebracht, who just missed the podium.
The other placings were achieved by Simon de Mori ahead of David Stein (GER, Usingen) and Thomas Eckert as well as Claus Gramlich (GER, Frankfurt).
The result of the first race was also the starting grid for race two, which was also started on Saturday.
The Pfister-Racing team mechanics now had a short time window to get the racing cars fit again for the second race and to rectify the consequences of the collision.
Marginal 0.124 seconds decide the victory in race 2!
Anyone who thought the first race already had a close outcome was once again proven wrong. At the end of the second race, 0.124 seconds were to make the difference between victory and defeat.
Tim Schestag and Robin Renz delivered touring car motor racing at its best. Both raced the laps in their own league and showed great slipstream duels.
Another great weekend for the Pfister-Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC): real cars, real racing!
Behind him, Simon de Mori managed to take the position as "best of the rest" in 3rd place, ahead of Dirk Ehlebracht, who narrowly missed the podium again. De Mori, meanwhile, should be quite satisfied with his third podium of the season after two good races at Oschersleben.
In contrast to the first race, Marco Bedrich had to settle for 5th place this time, but nevertheless scored more important points for the championship, ahead of David Stein.
In the lead, Schestag now had to reach deep into his bag of tricks to hold his own in the final meters in an extremely close photo finish ahead of Robin Renz.
After two wins at the Eurospeedway, Schestag once again clearly makes his mark on the Pfister Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC) with a total of 72 competition points.
After another great weekend of racing with beaming faces among racers and fans, the PRTC is now preparing for another legendary track on the calendar:
The racers will start at the Nürburgring GP circuit from October 14 to 16, 2022 when high tension is a dead cert!