15.07.08 No joy at Oschersleben

Wolfgang Kaufmann had a disappointing weekend at his home event at Oschersleben. “The track should suit our Corvette”, the teams agreed before the races. But the GT 3 tyres on the car, as mandated by the Citation Cup regulations, caused more trouble than expected.

FIA GT Oschersleben 2008

FIA GT Oschersleben 2008

Especially the tight corners and the “Hasseröder Kurve” were a source of displeasure for the seasoned professional from Molsberg: “For a few laps, the tyres provide decent grip, but then they drop away. Yes they remain constant from then on, but at a very low level.” – so Kaufmann fought severe understeer on the car turning into most of the 180 degree corners, as well at the apex of the turns, which changed into massive oversteer coming out of the turns.

For qualifying, the AT racing team tried several changes to the set-up to help give the Corvette a more neutral handling balance. These changes did not bring the desired result.

Kaufmann started the race quietly: “Our strategy was to keep out of harm's way in the opening lap, and then move up the order over the 2 hour race duration” – but all strategy was to no avail on lap 8.

“Material fatigue caused the mounting point of suspension to break, so the right rear wheel came loose. I dragged the Corvette slowly back to the pits, in the hopes of carrying on with the race. But it was impossible to send the car back out again.”

The next Citation Cup race will go ahead on August 23/24 at Bucharest; before this, Wolfgang Kaufmann will race in the highlight of the BF Goodrich German Endurance Championship season, with a Porsche 996 GT3 RS.

The main event of the FIA-GT championship, the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, will also see the man from Westerwald driving a Porsche as well. Belgian team PMB Motorsport has appointed the former Porsche World Cup winner its #1 driver for a Porsche GT1 Turbo.