OSCHERSLEBEN, 20th and 21st of June 2009 – Last weekend the third races of the FIA GT4 European Cup were driven., which took place at the race track of Oschersleben, Germany. Although the weekend was of to a rather difficult start due to the breakdown of the Donkervoort D8GT of Denis Donkervoort in race 1, a first place in the GT4 Supersports series and an 8th overall place in the GT4 series were obtained by Denis Donkervoort of Donkervoort Racing.

The variable weather conditions during the entire weekend showed the potential of the Supersports series, which normally has to race with grooved slick tyres while the GT4 can race on regular slick tyres, according to FIA regulations. Both classes are allowed to drive on similar tyres during conditions of rain. The speed of the Donkervoort D8GT during the periods of rain soon became apparent in the first training sessions on Friday, with a third overall time for Denis Donkervoort.

Race 1
Race 1 was characterized by more rain. Just moments before the start of the race (while the cars were already lined up on the starting grid) the rain persevered. Race Control herewith gave all competitors the possibility to change the slick tires to rain tires, which was made use of by all teams. Although the Supersports series has to start behind the GT4 starting grid, Denis Donkervoort managed to drive up to an overall 4th place within one single lap after an impressive (rolling) start. Unfortunately, Denis had to forfeit the race prematurely due to technical problems. Nico Pronk fought a challenging fight against the competitors in the Supersports series and finished fourth.

Race 2
Race 2 was driven in sunny weather, being the complete opposite of Race 1. But also in dry weather conditions Donkervoort Racing drove an excellent race. Unfortunately, the race was characterized by no less than seven stop-and-go-penalties, two of which were given to the Donkervoorts (due to an obligatory pitstop that lasted half a second too short). Despite of these penalties, Denis Donkervoort finished first in the Supersports series and obtained an overall  8th place in the GT4 series. Rookie Nico Pronk had to settle for an fifth place because of this.

And so, another weekend with podium places for the Donkervoort D8GT. For the next races in Spa-Francorchamps the Dutch GT4 Championship-field will be added to the GT4 European Cup-field, which promises exiting and thrilling battles!

The provisional calendar for this season:
Saturday July 25th 2009            Belgium  Spa-Francorchamps
Sunday August 23rd 2009          Belgium  Zolder
Sunday September 13th 2009    Portugal  Algarve