Sunshine and 11° Celsius were awaiting the start field of BOSS GP for first free practice at « Hockenheim Historic » on friday morning as well as the German Formular 1 track at the Hockenheimring and loads of motorsport enthusiasts, which cheered the drivers along the track.

Eight out of the nine drivers, who joined the free practice at the FORMULA class, found their way back across the finishing line, while at the OPEN class all five drivers finished the practice. Fastest lap of the FORMULA class was driven by Johann Ledermair (Team Ledermair Motorsport), who finished the first free practice as leader of the class. At the OPEN class reigning Champion Ingo Gerstl (TOP Speed) managed the leading spot and marked the fastest laptime of all drivers.

Couple of drivers were missing. Henk de Boer (FORMULA class, De Boer Manx) had to cancel the first race of the season due to private reasons. Walter Steding (FORMULA class, Inter Europol Competion) gave up the free practice due to technical reasons after a crash on track on Thursday as well as Wolfgang Jaksch (OPEN class, FXtreme Racing Team), who wasn’t ready yet for racing due to technical reasons as well (“We expect, that we will be on track on Saturday. Currently we still have a load of work to do.”). “We hope, that Stedings car will be ready to use on Saturday again. Actually the team is working around the clock for that goal”, explains Christian Gänse, race-coordinator of BOSS GP.

BOSS GP on Hockenheim track.

During practice on Friday morning Christian Eicke (FORMULA class, Speed Center) and Johann Ledermair led to turbulences. Eicke had to retire already after two laps due to technical reasons. The leading driver of the FORMULA class Ledermair, had to give up after six laps as well as a result of technical reasons, which pushed him into the gravel trap. “We took the first five laps for our coordination, which went pretty well, we made good progess. Then we used the chance, trying some stuff. That didn’t work out that well, we had some slight technical issues, which dropped me out of the race”, explains Ledermair, who is happy with the new used Pirelli tyres: “I am pleasantly surprised. We are not yet near the point, we want to be. But for the moment it feels really well.” The 25 years old native Tirolean has ambitious goals for the weekend: “I’m really happy about the results of the first free practice. Now we are fully focused on the second practice in the afternoon.”

New tyres by Pirelli are big topic for drivers

As well satisfied with the first practice session was Ingo Gerstl, leader and reigning champion of the OPEN class: “It went much better than expected. I didn’t race for a couple of months during the winter, so you have to get used to it again after such a long period of time. But everything went really well. The lap time became secondary for myself – the feeling was great, everything was fitting. That’s the most important point for now.” Despite driving the fastest lap time of the field, Gerstl knows about the strengths of his competitors. Klaas Zwart (Team Ascari) is not far behind the leader: “I can’t sleep, they will drive much faster during the next days”, says the Austrian. He is satisfied with the new tyre material as well: “I needed about two laps for warming up the tyres, but everything worked out very well. I’m really satisfied with the Pirellis.” Klaas Zwart agrees with Gerstl about the new tyres, but is aware of learning needs: “After spending years of developing tyres by Avon, the tyres by Pirelli are a new challenge for our team. We have to figure out the characteristics of the Pirellis. But actually every race is a process of learning for our team. So I am absolutely confident, that we will develop our knowledge during the next weeks and monts.” The Dutch is satisfied with his first practice result: “My team did a great job, the car was brilliant. I have to get used to new tyres. This process needs a bit of time.” Looking to his closest competitor Zwart says: “Ingo [Gerstl] set a really good lap time. Obviously he already learned much more than me and did a better job than me today. We will see, how the next days will work out.”

Klaas Zwart discussing the new Pirelli tyres.

Second free practice is set for Friday afternoon at 3:40 p.m. Saturday morning Qualifying starts at 10:00 a.m., first race is set for the afternoon at 3:15 p.m. The second race will start on sunday afternoon at 2:15 p.m.

See plenty of details of the first free practice at Hockenheim here: Hockenheim 2017: Results of first free practice.

Find all informations about « Hockenheim Historic » here: www.hockenheim-historic.de

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