The Sachsenring - 3.67 kilometers of pure madness. Almost exclusively left-hand bends, hardly any breaks to catch your breath and a tire that literally screams at the end. For Gian Luca Tüccaroglu, the race weekend meant ups and downs - with a lot of fighting spirit, a bitter retirement and a strong response on Sunday.
Qualifying - solid, but room for improvement
The two qualifying sessions on Friday presented a mixed picture. With 13th place for the first race and 14th for the second, Gian Luca was in a solid midfield position. In terms of pure speed, the top 10 would have been absolutely possible - as the sector times clearly showed. All the more important: no mistakes, no dropped laps, no technical problems. Everything ready for the race.
Race 1 (Saturday) - Attack, penalty, drama
Saturday lunchtime, Gian Luca gets off to a good start, attacks immediately and works his way up to 10th place. But then the first brake: after an overtaking maneuver, he has to accept a giveback penalty and loses his hard-won position.
Back in the traffic of the midfield, it becomes clear why the Sachsenring is so notorious: the countless left-hand bends cause the front right tire to degrade extremely - by the end of the race, almost two seconds per lap can be missing. Nevertheless, Gian Luca defends bravely.
Then comes the shock: in a defensive maneuver, he is shot down by an over-motivated opponent. The tire bursts, Gian Luca drags the Porsche back to the pits - but the race is over. A bitter retirement, also because a top ten result would have been absolutely possible.
Race 2 (Sunday) - Strong response
Overnight: the team repairs the car in record time. Gian Luca is back on the grid on Sunday - proof of a real team effort. But then comes the next setback: due to a grid penalty, he is moved back five places and only starts from 19th on the grid.
What follows is one of his best races of the season. No wild scenes, no chaos - instead, brilliant, ruthless overtaking maneuvers. He catches four cars on the track where hardly anyone would have expected it. In the end, 14th place is on the table. Not a spectacle, but a strong, cleverly driven race.
Conclusion - Bitter Saturday, strong Sunday
The Sachsenring weekend had it all: a spirit of optimism, frustration and a strong comeback. The retirement on Saturday hurt, because a top ten result would have been absolutely possible. But Sunday showed that Gian Luca is continuing to develop, is riding smarter and more cleverly - and proves that he can hold his own in this field.
From the attack to the setback to the clever chase to catch up - it is precisely weekends like this that shape a driver.
