A podium finish and plenty of points for KÜS Team Bernhard at the Red Bull Ring
The seventh race weekend of the DTM at the Red Bull Ring in Austria from 22 to 24 September 2023 had a bit of everything for the team of former World Endurance Champion Timo Bernhard.
Premiere and podium on Saturday
KÜS Team Bernhard celebrated another podium finish in Saturday’s race (23 September 2023). Laurin Heinrich (21, from Kürnach) crossed the finish line in second place in the number 75 Porsche 911 GT3 R for the second time this season. For team-mate Ayhancan Güven (25, from Gronau) in the sister car with start number 24, his eleventh place in Austria added another five points to his tally for the championship.
The qualifying session on Saturday already went almost perfectly for this racing team from Landstuhl in the Palatinate. Laurin secured the first ever pole position in the DTM for himself and for the team, while Ayhancan rounded off his outstanding performance in Styria with third place on the grid. Three championship points for the driver from Kürnach and one for “Can” were thus already secured before the start of the first race.
Team boss Timo Bernhard said it was: “A great qualifying session with both cars on the first two rows of the grid, plus pole position, our first ever in the DTM, and it was Laurin’s first too. It was great to start in P1 and P3. For the first few laps we even had the double lead in the rain, which was great to watch. The strategy was difficult. We were running rain tyres, but it wasn’t really wet, so it was very difficult to find the right time to change to slicks. But I think the strategy was right and we were able to score another podium result with Laurin on P2. I’m very happy for the whole team. Can unfortunately fell back a bit with the rain tyres and ended up eleventh after a hard fight. But his pace, especially with slicks, would have been enough to get much further ahead. Both cars were in the points, one on the podium, in qualifying as far ahead as never before – it was a beautiful race day”.
A Solid Sunday
The outcome of Sunday’s race (24 September 2023) at the Red Bull Ring was a mixed bag for Team Bernhard. Porsche contract driver Ayhancan Güven took seventh place in his 911 GT3 R with start number 24 and scored nine championship points, while team-mate Laurin Heinrich in the sister car with start number 75 missed out on the points by a hair’s breadth as he finished 16th.
Team boss Timo Bernhard stated: “It was a bit of a split race today. Can had a solid qualifying and race with seventh place at the finish. I think P6 was possible, unfortunately we had a bit of a traffic jam in the pit lane, so Can lost a bit of time while parking. Our timing there was not quite optimal, but overall, the strategy in the race was good. Unfortunately, Laurin’s qualifying was not ideal this morning. He could have driven much faster in the race, but he was stuck in a traffic jam the whole time.
Looking ahead to Hockenheimring
All in all, it was a solid race weekend with important championship points and the podium finish on Saturday. The team of this two-time Le Mans winner intends to take this momentum to the DTM finale. “I definitely want another podium finish at Hockenheim. Maybe a bit more,” says the team owner. The entire team will take their positive memories of this weekend with them and is looking forward to the DTM season finale in Hockenheim from 20 to 22 October 2023.
We wish KÜS Team Bernhard good luck and success at the upcoming season finale in Hockenheim.