Championship battle remains exciting: Podium finish for Benjamin Mazatis at the Nürburgring
Reiter Engineering pilot Benjamin Mazatis has had an eventful week. After his victory in the SP8T class in the third race of the VLN Endurance Championship, the Bruckmühl native travelled back to the Nürburgring last weekend with a lot of momentum. This time, however, it was on the Grand Prix variant of the historic Eifel circuit as part of the third race weekend of the GT4 Central European Cup. Together with his teammate Ilmari Korpivaara, the goal was to collect important points and stay in the championship fight.
After a serious, unforced contact in the first race, any thought of a good final position – and important championship points – was out of the question. Korpivaara was at the wheel for the first stint when the contact occurred. The damage could be repaired in the short term. When Mazatis took over the car, he extracted everything he could from the KTM XBow, but the alignment was too badly out of true for him to make up the significant deficit.
In the second race, the breakthrough came: Mazatis started from fourth on the grid and, with a strong performance, paved the way for third place. This allowed the Bruckmühl rider and his teammate to make up lost ground on the championship leaders. This was the third podium finish in a row for Mazatis at the fourth race weekend. Next up for the Reiter Engineering rider is the fourth race weekend of the GT4 Central European Cup at the Slovakiaring (18-19 August). The circuit near the Slovakian capital of Bratislava is considered 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 mixed emotions. We were determined to make up ground on the championship leaders, which unfortunately we didn't quite manage. After the problems in the first race, we limited the damage as much as possible with third place in the second heat. That's part of racing. You can't be blessed with luck every weekend. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic, as my favourite tracks, Slovakiaring and Circuit Zandvoort, are yet to come. Our focus is on the future, and we're really fired up for the showdown in the championship fight.
You continued your podium streak in the second race. Fifth podium in the fourth race weekend – a fantastic performance…
I'm also extremely proud of that, as the results very clearly reflect my development as a racing driver. 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. Therefore, we were at a clear disadvantage compared to the competition. Nevertheless, I was in the thick of the fight for a podium place the whole time. My teammate then really pushed hard at the end and brought 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 guest start in the third race of the VLNL 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.