Marioneck: Speedy Corvette driver in ADAC GT Masters

• Interview with ADAC Sports Foundation protégé Lennart Marioneck
• First season in GT3 sports car for young driver from Bavaria
• Marioneck takes stock after three race weekends in the ADAC GT Masters

Lennart Marioneck has made a big step forward in his racing career, graduating from a 190bhp Ford Fiesta in Division Two of the DTC des DMSB – ADAC Procar to a Callaway Competition 530bhp Corvette Z06 in the ADAC GT Masters. The 24-year-old student of automotive engineering from Bamberg shares the cockpit of the American muscle car with Swiss driver Remo Lips (31). The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé looks back on the first half of the 2013 Super Sports Car League which resumes after its summer break at the Nürburgring on the weekend of 2nd - 4th August.

You’ve contested six races in the ADAC GT Masters so far. How satisfied have you been with your performance?
“The first few races in the Corvette weren’t easy for me. The weather didn’t make the process of familiarisation any easier either. Up to now, we haven’t had consistent conditions across any of the three weekends; it’s been a mixed bag every time. That makes it all the more difficult for a newcomer. Consequently, I’m not too enthusiastic about my own performance so far, but I’m optimistic that I can improve in the races ahead.”

What has been the most difficult aspect of the ADAC GT Masters for you?
“In previous seasons, I’ve only competed in front-wheel drive cars, so I’m still having difficulty in adapting my technique to the rear-wheel drive of the Corvette. This is especially noticeable on tracks that I have driven on before, because I automatically seek out the racing line that I used when I had front-wheel drive, and then I find that I’m going too fast at the apex of the corners.”

Moving up through the junior series, front-wheel drive vehicles are the exception rather than the rule. But your career has been rather unconventional anyway, hasn’t it?
“I started out in the ADAC Logan Cup and the ADAC Chevrolet Cup, and on the basis of my results, I was invited to apply for the ADAC Sports Foundation scheme. My performance was considered impressive enough for me to be accepted as a member of the ADAC Sports Foundation squad. Last year, I competed in the DTC des DMSB – ADAC Procar and this year in the ADAC GT Masters. I am very grateful to the ADAC Sports Foundation; without their support, I wouldn’t have had these opportunities.”

It’s not only the power of the Corvette that will be unfamiliar to you but also the way the ADAC GT Masters operates...
“The ADAC GT Masters obviously operates at a much higher level than I’ve experienced so far in motor racing. On the race weekends, we perform a lot of data analysis, which is something I’ve never had to do before. But my team-mate Remo Lips and the entire Callaway Competition crew give me tremendous support with this side of the job. It also helps of course that I’m studying automotive technology. The data that comes in from the four Corvettes run by Callaway Competition is accessible to all the drivers in the team, so I can compare my laps with those of Daniel Keilwitz or Diego Alessi and learn a lot from the information.”

What has been your personal highlight up to now in the ADAC GT Masters?
“In qualifying for the race at Spa-Francorchamps, I clocked the highest speed that has ever been recorded in the ADAC GT Masters – 271 km/h. So that was certainly a special moment. Generally speaking, Spa was a good weekend. In qualifying, I was in the second group, which is always the tougher and faster of the two. I qualified 19th at Spa, but I was still only two or three tenths slower than Markus Winkelhock and Dino Lunardi who, as we all know, are two of the biggest names in GT racing.”

You’ve already helped your team-mate Remo Lips to two podium finishes in the Gentlemen classification. What are your targets for the rest of this season?
“It would be unrealistic to hope for a ranking in the Top Ten, because the championship is highly competitive and this is my first year in a GT3 sports car. But if I can manage to qualify regularly in the Top 15, and if we could finish the races in or around the same position, I would be satisfied.”