Mixed weekend for Aditya Patel at Sachsenring

Starting Race 1 from Daniel Dobitsch’s 11th place in qualifying, the Austrian took his position on the grid in a race where rain was predicted to create havoc for the drivers. But thankfully for the MS Racing team, it was a bright and sunny day, perfect for some intense racing action. 

As the lights went out, Dobitsch’s job was to ensure that the start of the race was incident free as all 28 drivers rushed towards the first corner fighting to gain as many places as they could manage. The MS Racing driver in a bid to avoid another racer was forced to back off losing a place and dropping down to 12th in the bargain. Having said that, he maintained good pace for the 30 minutes he was behind the wheel before handing over the car to Indian racer Aditya Patel. The Chennai lad drove hard and well to constantly gain positions, quickly jumping up to sixth. Sebastian Asch fought hard to steal the sixth place from Patel but the Indian racer held onto his spot till the chequer bringing eight valuable points for the team and getting off the mark on the championship standings. 

Race 2 on Sunday didn’t quite go as Dobitsch and Patel would have hoped for especially after putting up a strong performance in Race 1. The Indian rising star started the race from 13th place on the grid but was boxed and dropped down to 18th place. He did well to push hard and recover his 13th spot before handing over the wheel to his team-mate. Dobitsch, too, maintained good momentum and gained a place to secure the 12th spot. Five laps into his stint, he was shunted heavily by a Ford GT40 marking the end of his race. 

Although Patel and Dobitsch retired without any points in Race 2, it was quite a fruitful weekend for the duo as they get off the mark on the championship table with eight points on the board. The next round of the ADAC GT Masters is scheduled for the first week of August at Nurburgring, a circuit where both have driven extensively.