Excitement, suspense, pure emotion and Benjamin Mazatis right in the middle of it all. The driver from Bruckmühl experienced probably the most gruelling and at the same time most successful season of his motorsport career, which ended with a finale that was hard to beat in terms of drama. The Bavarian fought for the championship in the GT4 Central European Cup right up to the last race of the season. Last weekend, the 20-year-old was rewarded for his successful season and hard work between races. At the SRO Motorsport Awards Night, at which the ‚who's who‘ of GT motorsport was represented, the man from Bruckmühl accepted the 70 cm high trophy together with his Finnish team-mate Ilmari Korpivaara.
Together with Reiter Engineering, Mazatis competed in the KTM X-Bow GT4 and delivered a strong season. He and team-mate Korpivaara battled for the Pro-AM Cup title at a total of five stops this season. On the very first weekend, the duo underlined their championship ambitions with second place in Sunday's race. Mazatis and Korpivaara finished on the podium seven more times in the ten races of the season and were permanently among the front-runners in the standings. In the final race of the season, Mazatis even took a virtual lead in the championship until damage to the KTM X-Bow GT4 a few laps before the finish destroyed all title dreams. He finished the season in third place overall.
The man from Bruckmühl had another successful experience in the VLN Endurance Championship. He celebrated his first VLN victory on the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife at the third round of the season on 23 June. In the BMW M4 GT4 of Team Pixum Adrenalin Motorsport, he won the SP8T class with his two team-mates Uwe Ebertz and Manuel Amweg. This was followed by a second place in the CUP X class at the seventh round of the VLN on 22 September in the KTM X-Bow GT4 of Teichmann Racing with his team-mates Thorsten Jung and Uwe Flaig.
In an interview after the awards, Benjamin Mazatis commented on the season:
Describe your impressions of the SRO Awards Night in London?
It's a very special feeling to be part of the SRO Awards 2018. It's what I've always dreamed of and what I've worked so hard for every day. The successful racing cars presented directly on the banks of the Thames, with the illuminated Tower Bridge and the skyscraper ‚The Shard‘ in the background - it was simply unique. I can only congratulate Stéphane Ratel and the entire SRO on this mega event for us drivers. It was a privilege to have been there.
How would you rate your season in general?
It was a success story that continued throughout the season. Ilmari and I were right at the front from the very first race. In the end, it was small things, a strategy error at the Slovakiaring and bad luck at Zandvoort that decided the title fight against us. After the race in Zandvoort, I was obviously very disappointed at first, because you always want to be number 1, that's what you live for. But with a few weeks' distance, I can say that this season was really amazing and I'm very proud of my performance and that of my team-mate Ilmari. What's more, I really would have liked my guys from the Reiter Engineering team to win this title. I was also able to achieve success again this year on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife with the Pixum Adrenalin Motorsport team, including my first class victory in the VLN Endurance Championship. This rounds off the season in a fitting way.
After your great season, I'm sure there are already enquiries for 2019. Do you already know what's next for you?
There are some interesting options. In September I had a test in the Porsche Carrera Cup GT3 at Hockenheim and recently a test day in Le Castellet with the Porsche GT4. The times were great and I really had a lot of fun in both cars. I'm currently in negotiations and we'll see what comes out in the end. As soon as I know more, I will announce it via my social media accounts. The ultimate goal is to win another award next year.