Volkswagen Golf Cup, after the holiday break, has returned to action on the mysterious and tricky Sachsenring. Drivers had a first chance to learn the track yesterday, as on the venue hosting the 4th round of the Cup there is no chance to practice besides racing weekends. The weather was also an important factor, as on Friday we had a first wet session of the season. In this motorsport thriller the best turned out to be Dylan Pereira and Jeffrey Kruger, who sets pace before the qualifying session.

 
The weather on the beginning of rivalry in Saxony was not encouraging and during the whole Friday afternoon all competitors were seeking for some shelter, as the rain was continuously dropping. Thanks to that, drivers taking part in this year’s edition of the Volkswagen Golf Cup had a first chance to drive on the wet surface, though the weather next day was much better and the track kept dry during the second free practice.

Dylan Pereira was the fastest on the wet tires. The driver from Luxembourg kept his place in the top throughout the whole session, but the fact that the rain stopped just before the session meant the track kept getting drier. This was the reason why drivers’ times were the fastest minutes before the end of a session. The top three in this tough conditions was filled by Sebastian Arriola and the leader of the Cup – Jeffrey Kruger. The fastest Pole was Piotr Parys, who finished just behind 4th Marcus Fluch. Differences in the top 5 were very small, as this year’s debutant loss to the fastest Pereira was only 0,239 seconds. The only female driver on the grid, Gosia Rdest, was classified on the 18th position.

The second free practice began with a sunny conditions and the track was dry, which however didn’t influence the way drivers kept getting faster, which was the result of learning the new track. Since the very beginning the pace-setter was Kruger, who proved he didn’t want to give his rivals any more place. The top three finishers were also Marcus Fluch and Andre Gies, who lost less than 0,5 a second to the fastest driver. This time the fastest Polish driver was Michał Gadomski, before Sebastian Arriola. The quickest in the first practice, Dylan Pereira ended up on the 6th place, just before Piotr Parys.

Today drivers will face a qualifying session, which will decide about the starting positions before both Sunday races. We will know who is the best driver on the distance of one lap at 6:30 p.m.

To those fans, who won’t be able to show up during the competition near Chemnitz, we would like to remind that the rivalry on the first Volkswagen Golf Cup round can be also seen via Internet live broadcast, available at the following link: http://volkswagengolfcup.pl/index.php/live-stream/

Quotes after free practice on Sachsenring:
Gosia Rdest: – We have finished both free practice sessions, divided into two days. There were very mixed conditions, as we drove both on a wet and dry track, though the lap itself is really impressive all the time, especially the latitude differences. Blind corners demands a lot of confidence from the driver, but I am quite happy with how it worked out with the beginning of the weekend and I am waiting for the qualifying.

Piotr Parys: – The yesterday practice session was very good. I learned the track, which is quite tough, although the weather was pretty bad and it was raining. Yesterday I had the 5th time with a little loss to the fastest. Today was little bit worse, a second loss, but we have a lot of data to work through, so full power in the quali!

Marcus Fluch: – It was rainy yesterday and despite I like that kind of weather it was nearly a year since last wet session. I managed to find good rhythm pretty fast and I was fourth, not using all Push – to – Passes, so probably I could have driven faster. Today on slick tires I lost only with Kruger, who is always really fast, but with 0,3 seconds loss I have to work on my setup a little bit.

Jeffrey Kruger: – The second free practice started with a pretty, sunny weather. We had new tires in the back and we will try that setup in the first race. Now we have to look through the data and improve my drive. I think the pace is good and I can’t wait until the qualifying session, which should be interesting.