Albert Costa and Markus Winkelhock clashed at the Lausitzring Saturday: how they saw the scene and why the Lambo driver returned via the oval curve
The excellent points haul of the 63 Emil Frey Lamborghini (Costa/Aitken) at the Lausitzring has already been reported at. But Albert Costa and Jack Aitken almost went away empty-handed on Saturday.
What happened? Costa was in the final stages of his stint and met Markus Winkelhock in the 69 Car Collection Audi (Winkelhock/Spenger) at the pit exit. The two cars touched, forcing Costa into a spin.
“All my windows were completely dirty and suddenly I felt something at the rear and thought to myself, ‘No! Not again!’ Then I just spun into the grass and couldn’t stop,” Costa reported after the race.
Albert Costa: Saw a piece of asphalt
“I was just a passenger and waited and then got my bearings again. Then I went back on the gas to lose as little time as possible. I saw a piece of tarmac and then I went there.”
Costa’s return to the track was spectacular. He was catapulted on the wet grass almost into the Turn 1 oval and decided to take the steep turn route. Costa stepped on the gas and lost around three seconds as a result, but no place.
How did Winkelhock experience the scene? “I came out of the pits. The pit exit at the Lausitzring is always a bit difficult. I looked in the mirror and there was nothing. Costa was probably in the blind spot. He then pulled in, so there was no penalty for me. “
Markus Winkelhock: There was nothing in the mirror …
Winkelhock rather believes that Costa should have paid more attention: “He basically saw me and almost cut me off. He should have just paid a bit more attention, because he would have passed anyway.” Race control classified the situation as a racing accident and therefore waived a penalty.
“To be honest, I was very lucky after Markus hit me,” the Spaniard admits in retrospect. “But we are here and we enjoyed it. The most important thing is that our championship chances are still intact. We have to stay focused, we have to keep working like this because we are on a good path now.”
Costa and Emil Frey Lamborghini teammate Jack Aitken are in third place with four races to go. They are currently 25 points off overall leader Raffaele Marciello in the 2022 ADAC GT Masters, which is the same as winning the race.
