Dear fans, to be honest: I have already left the weekend at the Nuerburgring far behind me.  During the race really everything went wrong. It was simply bad luck, but I will start at the beginning.

The free practice didn't go as good as we had planned. I had some problems with the balance of my car. On the short sprint version of the Nuerburgring, it was quite a fight to get a good lap together. Although we tried different setups, I was not yet happy at the end of free practice.

My Team did a great job for the qualifying. Already in the first lap of qualifying I knew that my C-class is now competitive and well balanced. With my 10th position in Q2, I was also pleased. My last lap was good but not perfect; otherwise I would have made the jumped into the Top 8, and thus managed to step into Q3.

On Sunday, I was also quite happy with the warm-up. We had prepared the car for a long run, which worked well.  So I went into the race very confident of having a good car.

What happened then at the start was a disaster: firstly, I had way too much Wheelspin, it felt like a little eternity till I came out of my starting position. Even on my way to the first corner I was passed by some cars. At the entrance into the Mercedes Arena, I tried to keep out of everything, but the opposite happened. Someone crashed into my back, tore the right rear bumper from my car and broke the diffusor. Garry Paffet spun in front of me and I had to go into the gravel on the outside to avoid crashing into him. After two turns, I was last with a heavily damaged car. This was not what I had expected.

Anyone who knows me knows that I do not give up and at my first stint I managed to pass some of my colleagues. But due to the damage at my rear I was aware that my car is not running as fast as it would have been needed to get back into the points. To top the bad luck the wheel gun broke during my first pit stop. This costs me around 10 seconds. At the second pit stop the front right wheel nut was jammed, which also resulted in a longer second tire change. From then on I only tried to finish the race as good as it was possible under these circumstances. Without the problems, for sure I would have raced in the area of Jamie Green, who finished fifth.

Nevertheless, it was a weekend to forget. After the unhappy end last year and the bad luck this time, you might say, the Nuerburgring doesn't like me. But such superstition, I think its nonsense. In addition, all good things are three, and next year I will be here again and drive into the points.

Now I will concentrate only on Brands Hatch. I like the track and know it from my days in British Formula 3. I always like to come back there  and we'll see what results I bag.

Keep racing
Maro