26.08.10 Challenging season for Wolfgang Kaufmann

At the beginning of the year, everything pointed toward an excellent season for the professional racing driver from Molsberg.

With the assignment to drive a Porsche in the International GT Open and drives in the legendary 24 hour races, Wolfgang Kaufmann was very much content and looking forward to the year's racing: “For this package, I turned down opportunities in national and international GT3 competition, we were hoping for podium finishes in both series.”

After the first races in the Le Mans Series, under the auspices of the organisers of the legendary 24h Le Mans, Kaufmann led the championship standings following a class win with his team mates Moro and Zacchia. Unfortunately, this promising venture has been put on hold for the time being: “In these tough economic times, the team has to keep its balance sheet in mind. For the next few races, my seat will be taken by a driver who will bring funs to the team. I certainly respect such a decision, however finding out about it through the official entry list, rather than from the team, does leave a certain aftertaste.”

One bit of bad news usually isn't enough, as Kaufmann had to find in the GT Open. His campaign in this championship with competition from Aston Martin, and Porsche teams, also seems to be uncertain at this point, halfway through the season: “In Autorlando we certainly have a good team that knows how to prepare a Porsche. This expertise also shows in their concentration on the car with Porsche factory driver Lietz and industrialist Roda. However, we could not establish ourselves within the team in the way we had wished.”

The rest of the season holds some uncertainty for the racer from Westerwald: “As long as there is no definite decision on the GT Open programme, I will certainly be on the lookout for alternative drives for the rest of the season. I would especially like to take part in the 24 Hours of Spa, but there is also a good chance for an LMP2 campaign in the Le Mans Series and possibly an outing in the American Le Mans season finale at Road Atlanta.”

In the Spanish GT championship, the predecessor to the GT Open series, Kaufmann earned his nickname “Piranha” in 2001 driving for the team of Paco Orti, so the GT Open races at Barcelona and Monza have top priority for him.