Jeffrey Schmidt: "We stayed motivated" 🎥
END OF A THURST After frustrating moments in the 2020 ADAC GT Masters, Jeffrey Schmidt scored his first win of the season with Callaway Competition at the Sachsenring. It could go on like this. Jeffrey Schmidt's predecessor Marvin Kirchhöfer presented the Callaway Corvette in the ADAC Speedcheck a year ago. The aforementioned qualities of the V8 flounder still apply. The relief after the successful [...]
Jeffrey Schmidt's predecessor Marvin Kirchhöfer presented the Callaway Corvette in the ADAC Speedcheck a year ago. The aforementioned qualities of the V8 flounder still apply.
The relief after the successful second race at the Sachsenring was obvious to the 26-year-old from Liestal and could be heard all the way to Switzerland. For the longest-serving team in the ADAC GT Masters, it was the 34th victory since 2007, but for the Swiss only the second success in the "league of super sports cars" in almost two and a half years (April 28, 2018 in race 1 at Most/CZ with Stefan Mücke on Audi R8 LMS).
Good qualifying and perfect start
He created the basis for this himself on Sunday morning with the sixth-best qualifying time. Schmidt got off to a dazzling start and, in the only Corvette C7 GT3-R in the 32-car field, moved up to third position in the first few corners.
Lying in second place after the driver change, his partner Markus Pommer, who is three years older, put pressure on the leading Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini for a long time. But the German was unable to take advantage of any situation without risking second place.
In the end, however, this meant the longed-for victory, as a time penalty had already been announced for the Lamborghini team before crossing the finish line.
The highlights show how the happy ending came about for the man from Basel.
Don't let it get you down
The Swiss newcomer to the team from Leingarten near the Hockenheimring never doubted himself or the car and crew.
Jeffrey Schmidt: "I was confident that we would be able to shake off our bad luck for once and that with a little more race luck we would be able to go far to the front. We certainly had the necessary speed and proved it several times. We simply couldn't let the last setbacks get us down."
Wage of the work
Jeffrey Schmidt and Callaway Competition had naturally hoped for a conciliatory result after the many disappointments. But it was rather surprising to see a victory at the Sachsenring, where the Corvette C7 GT3-R has hardly been able to show its strengths in the past.
Jeffrey Schmidt: "A lot of things have gone wrong for us so far, so this success is all the more pleasing. Even though the track wasn't made for the Corvette, we put a lot of work into the car throughout the weekend to get everything out of it. So the Corvette was then very good, which was certainly the basis for the good performance in qualifying and the race."
A slight smile had already returned to his face on Saturday. Starting 14th, the Callaway duo worked their way up to a conciliatory eighth place. For Schmidt, this meant a small premiere, after he had not driven a meter on Saturday at each of the previous race weekends.
Good omen
Next week, it's off to the Red Bull Ring. It's a good place to be, as Schmidt celebrated his first victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland five years ago in Styria. Moreover, the track in Spielberg seems to suit the Callaway Corvette - last year, his team celebrated its penultimate victory there.
Jeffrey Schmidt: "I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the entire team, who never gave up. Everyone pushes and works crazy hard for success. Even in the bad times, the team never lost motivation. The best part about being on top of the podium is seeing everyone have a huge smile on their face again."
