After the first success at the Norisring, Dennis Olsen (NOR) also celebrated a podium finish at the Nürburgring. The Norwegian secured the second place in Sunday’s race. Teammate Laurens Vanthoor (BEL) followed in eleventh place.
- Dennis Olsen “Fastest on Friday” in free practice
- P2 for the #94 and P8 for the #92 in qualifying
- Podium for Dennis Olsen in the second race
Race 1
SSR Performance kicked off the first day after the summer break of the DTM highly motivated. Both free practice sessions at the Nürburgring ended in the top five. Dennis Olsen also secured the best lap time of the day on the 3.629 kilometer track.
After qualifying on Saturday was canceled due to heavy fog, the first race of the weekend started at 5:15 p.m. after a long wait. The grid was in the order of the drivers’ championship. The SSR Performance drivers Dennis Olsen and Laurens Vanthoor had a very good start and were in the top 10 after a few minutes. The Norwegian in the #94 car had to come into the pits after a collision with an opponent and the resulting damage. Things seemed to be going much better for his teammate, but with 20 minutes remaining he too made contact while in the top 5 and had to retire early.
Race 2
Sunday looked very promisingly for the Munich team in bright sunshine. Dennis Olsen set the third fastest time in qualifying in the #94 car. Laurens Vanthoor started the race from eighth place on the grid. After a short time, the safety car was sent onto the track and the first cars made their way into the pit lane. Olsen used this opportunity for an early pit stop. Due to the regulations, however, the sister car could only stop on the following lap. After the restart, the green SSR Porsche with the #94 managed to jump to second position, which it defended until the end. After a few problems at the pit stop, the #92 car found itself at the back of the field again, but was able to fight its way up to eleventh place. It is the second podium of the season for SSR Performance. The Norwegian Dennis Olsen thus collected important points for the championship at the Nürburgring.
After the fifth DTM race weekend, the team is currently in third place in the team classification.
The next DTM weekend will take place from September 9th to 11th at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Mario Schuhbauer, Team Principal SSR Performance
“I have mixed feelings after the weekend at the Nürburgring. The pace was right, so it’s particularly disappointing that we had to end Saturday’s race early with both cars. After a day to forget, we were very satisfied on Sunday. Second place was a nice reward, but we will continue to work hard on ourselves.”
Maike Frik, Team Manager SSR Performance
“After the long summer break, the Saturday of the race not only started delayed but above all ended with two disappointing DNFs. Sunday was finally a clear step in a more positive direction and was rewarded with a second place for Dennis Olsen. It’s only two weeks until the next race in Spa, so we’ll do everything we can to be able to attack fully with both cars.”
Laurens Vanthoor, #92 driver SSR Performance
“Qualifying was okay, but not yet as it should be. The race was over for me with the safety car. Due to the regulations, the teams with two cars lost the chance to pit both cars at the same time. We continue to struggle with problems that we know from the past weekends. However, I’m very happy for Dennis! We still have work to do with the #92.”
Dennis Olsen, #94 driver SSR Performance
“We had ups and downs this weekend. We couldn’t finish the race on Saturday. For Sunday I am all the more happy to be on the podium. I would like to thank the entire team for their great work. The pit stop was crucial and gave me the chance to finish second. We keep working and hope for another podium at Spa.”
Results 1st race DTM Nürburgring
1. #31 Sheldon van der Linde // Schubert Motorsport // BMW
2. #3 Kelvin van der Linde // Team Abt Sportsline // Audi
3. #7 Ricardo Feller // Team Abt Sportsline // Audi
DNF Dennis Olsen // SSR Performance // Porsche
DNF Laurens Vanthoor // SSR Performance // Porsche
Results 2nd race DTM Nürburgring
1. #4 Luca Stolz // Mercedes-AMG Team HRT // Mercedes
2. #94 Dennis Olsen // SSR Performance // Porsche
3. #22 Lucas Auer // Mercedes-AMG Team Winward // Mercedes
11. #92 Laurens Vanthoor // SSR Performance // Porsche
Team ranking after the fifth DTM weekend:
1. Schubert Motorsport // 149 points
2. Abt Sportsline // 128 points
3. SSR Performance // 89 points
Driver ranking after the fifth DTM weekend:
1. Sheldon van der Linde // 110 points
2. Mirko Bortolotti // 89 points
3. Lucas Auer // 85 points
9. Dennis Olsen // 59 points
16. Laurens Vanthoor // 30 points
About SSR Performance
The young and dynamic Munich based SSR Performance GmbH was founded by a car and motorsport enthusiast. The exclusive automobile company has had an exciting start to 2020. After moving to a new High Performance Automotive Center in the north of the Bavarian metropolis, which has seven floors and around 10,000 square meters of floor space, the motorsport department at SSR Performance had its first full season in the ADAC GT Masters 2020 on the program ended with Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart winning the driver and team classification as well as the title in the team championship. Another year in the ADAC GT Masters followed in 2021, with Michael Ammermüller and Porsche factory driver Mathieu Jaminet competing for SSR Performance. After winning the title in the debut season, the team continued the success story as vice champion.
For SSR Performance GmbH, which takes care of repairs, maintenance and service of sports cars and vintage cars of all brands in their day-to-day business, motorsport is an integral part of the still young group of companies.
Stefan Schlund, CEO of SSR Performance GmbH from Munich emphasizes: “For us, our involvement in races with GT sports cars offers an excellent platform to demonstrate our competence in motorsport and the sports car sector derived from it.”
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