We scraped together the budget for the first race of the 2025 season at the very last moment. I want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to get back behind the wheel of a race car. Even though the weekend didn’t bring big results, it was still important for me to be on the grid – and here’s why.
Even a week before the race, it wasn’t certain that I’d be able to compete. Once again, thanks to community support, friends, and my team, I had the chance to line up at the Red Bull Ring.
Last year, I finished third in the GTX category of the Eset Cup Series. Over the winter, the championship was renamed – it’s now called the GT Cup Series. One of the biggest changes: already in the first weekend, we had 11 cars in the GTX category and a total of 26 entries in the series.
Thanks to upgrades, we’ve skipped past GT4-level cars and I was able to challenge older Cup-spec Porsches. I was two seconds faster in every condition compared to the same time last year.
Out of the 11 GTX entries, my Lotus was the weakest – even though it’s now lighter and more powerful than it was last year. The track didn’t suit the car last year either – the Lotus simply can’t accelerate out of corners the way the other cars do. That’s natural: I’m still down at least 150–200 horsepower, and I lacked mechanical grip. Not to mention the turbo cars have way more torque.
My car is strong in high-speed corners and more technical tracks. But the Red Bull Ring is all about heavy braking zones and hard exits.
Even the driver in 9th place was four seconds ahead of me. That’s why we didn’t put on a new set of slicks – it wouldn’t have made a difference.
We were really hoping for rain. We had a fresh set of wets ready, just waiting for the chance to surprise the field. But the rain never came.
In Qualifying 1, I finished 19th, then managed to improve by one spot in Qualifying 2.
Sunday’s first race started poorly. We over-strategized for the rain and started from the pit lane. Since there was no rain, I went out on slicks behind the field, knowing there would be a Safety Car – and it did come. I caught back up and climbed from last to 17th overall, finishing 8th in GTX.
Barely three hours later came Race 2. I even surprised myself – starting from 18th, I jumped up to 10th by Turn 1, thanks to others struggling with cold tyres and possibly some dirt on the track. I was running 4th in GTX at that point.
My short moment in the spotlight faded quickly. The others found their rhythm and picked me off one by one. On the straights, they just flew past me.
I managed to hold 14th overall and 6th in GTX. Dennis Waszek was behind me – more than a minute back! Uncatchable? You’d think so. But in his Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo, he gained 4–5 seconds per lap on me and caught up within the final 15 laps. He passed me on the final lap. I tried to defend, but I might as well have thrown ping pong balls at a tank.
All in all, I’m just happy I made it to the first weekend. I earned some points – and I’m not last! The car has come a long way, and we could be much more competitive on other tracks. I truly hope I was able to repay the trust of those who helped me get here.
The next round is in a month at the Lausitzring. I was surprisingly quick there in 2024, grabbing two third places in class. I know we’d be even stronger this year. At the moment, we have only minimal funding for the rest of the season, so I can’t say for sure whether I’ll be on the grid at the next race.
Standings after the first round:
| Pos. | Name | Car | Points |
| 1. | Jürgen Alzen | KTM X-BOW GT2 | 25 |
| 2. | Jack Russel | KTM X-BOW GT2 | 25 |
| 3. | Christian Wimberger | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO | 18 |
| 4. | Max Grip | KTM X-BOW GT2 | 15 |
| 5. | Dennis Waszek | Lamborghini Huracan SuperTropheo | 12 |
| 6. | Viktor Mráz | KTM X-BOW GT2 | 12 |
| 7. | Rupert Atzberger | KTM X-BOW GT2 | 10 |
| 8. | Marius Aigner | KTM X-BOW GT2 | 10 |
| 9. | Alexander Ober | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 8 |
| 10. | Gábor Tim | Lotus Exige V6 | 6 |
| 11. | Antonin Herbeck | Pagani Zonda | 1 |