Rain gambles and pit lane chaos: A wild inaugural weekend for the GT Summer Series

Always in the thick of it: Gregor Drasal’s pink Leipert Lamborghini GT3 was a magnet for action all weekend, fighting through spins and door-to-door clashes.

Behind him, however, pure overambition caused carnage. Porsche pilot Speck gambled heavily, lining up as the only driver on slick tires. It was a recipe for disaster. After spinning at the very first corner, he lost complete control of his 911 at the high-speed Parabolika on a subsequent lap and slammed head-on into the Armco barrier. Thankfully, Speck walked away unharmed, but his car was destroyed and the race was red-flagged.

Race 3: Human error causes pit lane confusion

Anyone expecting a quiet finale in race three was proved wrong. This time, the chaos wasn't caused by the weather, but by race control itself.

After Petersen retired early with a mechanical failure, Westarp controlled the pace from the front. Behind him, however, Gregor Drasal took centre stage. The driver of the pink Leipert Lamborghini was the undisputed action magnet of the weekend: After a brake failure on the formation lap of race one and a spin in the wet second race, he found himself in a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle with Pierre Lemmerz.

The clash ended with Lemmerz spinning out with wheel damage, which triggered a safety car period. In Gedlich Racing events, the mandatory pit window is typically delayed if a safety car is on track to avoid unfair advantages.

Three races, three winners: The inaugural weekend delivered maximum drama but ended with big celebrations.

Three races, three winners: The inaugural weekend delivered maximum drama but ended with big celebrations.

But due to a human error at race control, the official "pit window open" message was blasted across the timing screens regardless.

A wave of panic hit the paddock. Teams scrambled to pit their cars while driving behind the safety car, completely shuffling the running order. Westarp kept his head amidst the chaos, emerged from the stops with a massive 30-second lead, and cruised to victory ahead of the Cup 2 Porsche of Fabian Dybionka and Igor Klaja. Action-magnet Drasal, meanwhile, attempted a late dive for second place, spun out, and ultimately had to settle for fourth overall.

Three races, three different winners - and plenty of talking points as the grid now heads to Oschersleben on May 29-31.

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