Reiter Engineering driver Benjamin Mazatis has had an eventful week. After his victory in the SP8T class in the third round of the VLN Endurance Championship, the driver from Bruckmühl travelled back to the Nürburgring last weekend with a lot of momentum. This time, however, he travelled to the Grand Prix version of the historic circuit in the Eifel as part of the third race weekend of the GT4 Central European Cup. Together with his team-mate Ilmari Korpivaara, the aim was to collect important points and stay in the championship fight.
After a serious contact in the first race through no fault of his own, a good final position - and important championship points - were out of the question. Korpivaara was behind the wheel during the first stint when the contact occurred. The damage could be repaired quickly. When Mazatis got into the car, he got everything he could out of the KTM X-Bow, but the track was too warped for him to make up the large gap.
In the second race, Mazatis made up ground: he started the race from fourth on the grid and paved the way for third place with a strong performance. The driver from Bruckmühl and his team-mate thus made up lost ground on the championship leaders. Mazatis thus made it onto the winner's podium for the fourth race weekend in a row.
Next up for the Reiter Engineering driver is the fourth race weekend of the GT4 Central European Cup at the Slovakiaring (18th to 19th August). The circuit near the Slovakian capital Bratislava is one of Mazatis' favourite tracks.
Four questions for Benjamin Mazatis
How would you sum up the weekend at the Nürburgring?
I look back on the weekend with a smile and a tear in my eye. We were determined to make up ground on the championship lead, but unfortunately we didn't quite succeed. After the problems in the first race, we did maximum damage limitation with third place in the second race. That's part of racing. You can't be blessed with luck every weekend. Nevertheless, I'm in good spirits because my favourite tracks, the Slovakiaring and Circuit Zandvoort, are still to come. Our focus is on the future and we are really looking forward to the showdown in the battle for the championship.
You continued your podium streak in the second race. Fifth podium at the fourth race weekend - a fantastic achievement...
I'm really proud of that, because the results reflect my development as a racing driver very well. I drove the first stint in the second race. However, the conditions were anything but easy. We had already had to fit our last set of fresh tyres in the first race. We therefore had a clear disadvantage compared to the competition. Nevertheless, I was in the thick of the fight for a podium place the whole time. My team-mate then pushed hard at the end and drove home third place.
There was a serious collision in the first run. What happened?
My team-mate Ilmari was first behind the wheel. He had a great start. Later, there was a collision in which our track rod was damaged. After the repair stop, I took over the car. I gave it my all, but the collision made the car anything but easy to drive. At the same time, it also shows the fighting spirit of us at Reiter Engineering not to bury our heads in the sand even after such a setback. We are now looking ahead to the remaining two weekends full of motivation and determination and we will do everything we can to clinch the championship.
You also had a spontaneous guest start in the third round of the VLN Endurance Championship - how did it go for you?
We took victory in the SP8T class. It was a great race. When I got the offer from Team Pixum Adrenalin Motorsport, I just had to take it. On the one hand, I love racing on the Nordschleife and on the other, it was the perfect preparation for the remaining races still to come this season. I shared the cockpit with Uwe Ebertz and Manuel Amweg. Considering that I had virtually no previous experience with the BMW M4 GT4, the victory is even more valuable.