Motor Girls

Carrie Schreiner and her new team Attempto Racing achieved success at the 6 Hours of Portimao as part of the GT Winter Series.

The race weekend, starting with the test days throughout the week, was repeatedly interrupted by rain. The Audi GT3 from Attempto Racing remained largely unaffected during Friday’s practice sessions and showed competitive times in all sessions.

It had also rained during qualifying on Saturday, but stopped before the actual sessions began. In some places the track was drying out, while other sections were still so riddled with puddles that it was difficult even on rain tires. Scholze was the driver for the first qualifying session. He didn’t immediately take full risks in these conditions and drove a few safe laps before increasing his pace. Other drivers didn’t show this restraint and repeatedly slid out on the wet patches. A few others, however, managed to use the rain to their advantage and laid down some fantastic lap times. Scholze’s qualifying time was therefore 3 seconds behind that of Mansel, the leader.

Carrie Schreiner takes over for the second session. The track is now drying significantly. While large parts of the middle sector are dry and the rain tires are struggling, other sections, especially Turn 2, remain too wet. This makes it difficult for the driver from Saarland to improve her times. She closes the gap to the leaders in the first and second sectors. However, her rivals cope better in the middle sector and gain time on her. The front-engined Aston Martin and Mercedes cars, in particular, seem to have an advantage here. As a result, she is now four seconds off the pace in the combined qualifying time.

In the third session, it was almost time for slicks. Levi, driving a GT3 for the first time in his career, was able to push even harder. From the start, he was among the fastest in the session and even took pole position at one point. Teams that had hoped for completely dry conditions were able to significantly improve their times towards the end, while others managed to hold onto their lead. In the end, Attempto Racing remained 3 seconds behind the leader and finished 5th in both the GT3 class and overall.

The race began in the same wet conditions as qualifying, but the track started to dry even before the green flag was issued. Levi, like the rest of the GT3 class, started on wet tires. He got a good start and was able to move up to third place in the first lap. Even on the start-finish straight, he manages to move into second place and begins chasing down McLaren, who has now pulled away. The McLaren demonstrated the dominance it displayed in qualifying and pulled away decisively. Levi, its closest pursuer, initially lost a second per lap, with the other pursuers losing even more. When the gap to first place reached 16 seconds, Levi managed to close the gap to McLaren’s pace, allowing the deficit to remain relatively constant.

After just a few laps, a long list of penalties arrived from race control. Cars number 28, 007, 911, 17, 71, 27, 77, and 70 all received drive-through penalties. They had all failed to enter the starting grid through their designated corridor. Levi’s pursuers in the GT3 class were also affected. After their penalties, the gap to third place was 50 seconds and later increased to over a minute.

Kelly, driving the leading Greystone McLaren, makes his first pit stop after just 55 minutes. A unique feature of this race is the minimum pit stop time. Teams must spend at least 35 minutes in the pits during the first 5.5 hours, as well as at least 4 minutes in the refueling area. Kelly is the first GT3 car to pit and consequently drops far back. Levi takes the lead for the Attempto Racing team. He himself pits after an hour. The team decides to complete a significant portion of their minimum pit stop time during this initial stop and is therefore pushed even further back. After 8 minutes, Carrie Schreiner leaves the pit lane on fresh slicks, in 8th place overall.

On the still slightly damp track, she struggled to get the slicks up to temperature. As a result, she lost several positions on her out lap, dropping to 12th overall and 7th in her class. She was unable to match the pace of the competition in the early laps.

After 75 minutes, debris is scattered across the track. Race control issues a full course yellow to clear it and then calls in the safety car. This allows Schreiner to catch up. However, since the cars aren’t separated by class, she has to queue behind slower cars. At the restart after 88 minutes, she tries to overtake them quickly but overtakes too early and receives a drive-through penalty. In the traffic after the restart, she is further held up by slower cars. There are also minor collisions with these drivers, but no damage occurs, so these go unpenalized for the Cup and GT4 cars.

Schreiner immediately served her penalty and rejoined the track in 11th place overall and 7th in the GT3 class. Now with warmed-up tires, she began to gain ground. She was able to keep pace with the class and make up time on the cars ahead. With a gap of 21 seconds to 10th place, this was essential. After almost two hours of racing, she had managed to move into the top ten and was only 5 seconds behind 9th place. She continued to work her way forward as the next pit stop interval approached. At the two-hour mark, she was battling with the 911 Cup 2 Porsche from LMR Motorsport for 6th place overall, while the first GT3 cars were making their second pit stop. Due to the Porsche’s higher top speed, she couldn’t overtake them. The team therefore made a slightly earlier pit stop. This stop was then artificially extended to avoid having to stop for too long later.

Scholze was still in the pit box with the Attempto Racing Team Audi when a Cup 2 Porsche went off into the gravel at Turn 4. A full course yellow was issued, followed by the safety car. The time spent in the pits did not count towards the minimum pit stop time, meaning the wait was wasted. After the restart, Scholze was able to match the pace of the leaders and make up time. However, his fast driving came at a price. During his stint, he exceeded the track limits too frequently, resulting in a 10-second time penalty for the team. He then held back but continued to close the gap. By the time the next pit stops were due, the No. 86 car was back in 4th place overall and 3rd in class.

After 3 hours and 17 minutes, Scholze pits and hands over to Carrie Schreiner once again. They stick with their strategy of slower pit stops. Schreiner rejoins the track in 13th place. By far, the team has now completed the most of its minimum pit stop time. This time, the driver from Saarland has no trouble getting the tires up to temperature and is already matching the pace of the leaders on her first flying lap. With clear track conditions, she is often the fastest driver, although the overall fastest lap remains with the leading McLaren. She is thus gaining over a second per lap, closing the gap to 12th place overall, currently held by the seventh-placed driver in the GT3 class.

Halfway through Schreiner’s stint, a light drizzle begins again. With a brief use of her windshield wipers, she maintains her pace and, after four hours of driving, is right on the heels of Porsche number 17, currently in seventh place in its class. The two cars encounter lapped traffic in the final section of the track. This gives Schreiner a much better exit from turn 14, allowing her to pull alongside the Porsche in the final corner and easily overtake it on the long straight. On the following lap, the car in second place overall blocks her path, but she manages to overtake him after a brief battle and now has a clear run to close the gap, as she remains one of the fastest cars on the track.

With 90 minutes remaining, the rain is starting to intensify towards the end of Schreiner’s stint. The cars are beginning to slide, but at the same time, the track isn’t yet wet enough for rain tires. Moreover, with the current wind, it looks like the rain will soon stop. Schreiner, however, has to pit for fuel. Since there’s no rush due to the minimum pit stop time, the tire choice is discussed during the driver change. Scholze gets back into the car and, after waiting a sufficient amount of time, drives to the refueling area one last time.

The wait proved worthwhile. During car number 86’s pit stop, the rain intensified. Cars were regularly spinning or veering off the track. As Scholze left the pits, all the other teams came in, as continuing on slicks had become physically impossible. Thanks to the earlier stop and avoiding any slips at the start of the rain, Scholze moved up to 9th overall and 7th in his class. He quickly adapted to the conditions and was able to keep pace with the competition. However, he couldn’t close the gap any further for the time being, as the long waits for the now almost completed minimum pit stops had left him too far behind.

At the final pit stop, Levi is switched back to the driver. The stop is quick, as the minimum pit stop time has already been fulfilled by the tire change. Due to the reduced speed caused by the rain, a refueling stop is no longer necessary for the Attempto Racing team. Levi goes out on the track and immediately begins chasing the fastest lap times for the wet conditions.

At the final pit stop, Levi is switched back to the driver. The stop is quick, as the minimum pit stop time has already been fulfilled by the tire change. Due to the reduced speed caused by the rain, a refueling stop is no longer necessary for the Attempto Racing team. Levi goes out on the track and immediately begins chasing the fastest lap times for the wet conditions. In the next few minutes, there is a rush to the pit lane. Almost all the cars now come in to fulfill their remaining minimum pit stop time. Some teams have to stay in the pits for over 20 minutes. Car number 86 is able to take advantage of this and regain some time. After all the teams have completed their pit stop time, Levi is in 5th place, both overall and in class. The gap to the Comtoyou Aston Martin 007 is now one minute. The gap to the car behind is more than a lap. The Aston Martin has a 5-second longer time penalty than the Audi, so closing in might be enough to overtake it. Levi gets to work. The Aston Martin is finding hardly any grip in these conditions, and Levi intends to exploit this. On average, he manages to gain 3 seconds per lap on the 007. In his best laps, he even manages 5 seconds. The gap is melting away. At the start of the last lap, Levi is only 3.1 seconds behind the Comtoyou Racing car. This would be enough to secure 4th place due to the penalties. But a true racing driver isn’t satisfied. Levi doesn’t maintain the gap and continues to attack. This proves to be a mistake, as he slides into the gravel. He manages to free himself, but the gap widens again to 10 seconds. This means the Aston Martin doesn’t lose enough time due to the penalty. Levi thus finishes the race in the same position he started it in.

Schreiner herself was less satisfied with her race. “The result wasn’t so great, there were a few penalties,” she explained to us. At the same time, however, she is motivated for the next race. “But now I have another chance,” she said. Schreiner’s Winter Series campaign continues next week. The race in Valencia is on February 15th. Last year, she finished on the podium in every single race there, so expectations are likely to be high this year.