Rookie Jan Marschalkowski had a spin in the first Oschersleben race of the ADAC GT Masters – What really happened in turn 7
“At first I thought I had lost the car on the gas myself. But it wasn’t like that.” – The somewhat inglorious trophy for the first spin of the 2022 ADAC GT Masters season went to series newcomer Jan Marschalkowski. However, it wasn’t what it seemed at first – although he can’t be entirely absolved.
“I touched the Porsche in front of me”. “It made him uneasy. And then when he came back with the rear, he hit me again in front. That then turned me around. That was just unfortunate. I was really pissed off after that.” The first race was over and he finished last.
But even apart from the spin, not everything went perfectly. At first, the balance was missing. “A fortnight ago [at the test] it was really good, but we still had an idea how to make it even better for this weekend. We made this change on Friday, but we had a few problems with it.” Still, it was good enough for sixth on the grid, then there was a collision on the starting lap.
It was only when the ZVO team rebuilt the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Marschalkowski and Daniel Juncadella to the old standard overnight that things went better again. In the second race they collected their first points of the season.
The Spaniard laid the foundations in qualifying with ninth place. “He lost a lot of time in the last sector because of traffic,” said Marschalkowski. “Otherwise he would have been in the top five or even top three.” Juncadella held his own in the first part.
Marschalkowski then made up a place by overtaking Thierry Vermeulen spectacularly over several corners. He even went through the chicane side by side. “That was at the limit,” he grins. “It’s really insanely difficult to overtake here – especially with the Mercedes. You get so much understeer as soon as you get close to the other cars.”
Vermeulen shot full straight through the chicane, after which Marshalkovsky then passed. “I would have given him enough space on the left already,” he said of the scene. “For the [following] right it would have been difficult. But then he went straight. I was just like, ‘Come on!’ But he got into the dirt and couldn’t hold the car. So I was able to go through. “
