A rollercoaster of emotions for the Joos by Twin Busch team at the start of the ADAC GT Masters season at Oschersleben: After a serious accident in the first free practice session presented the team with a major challenge, the Joos by Twin Busch team celebrated an impressive comeback with a podium finish on Sunday, after having already achieved a very good fifth place in Saturday's race.

With the twins Johannes and Michael Kapfinger, the Joos by Twin Busch team started the 2024 ADAC GT Masters season at Oschersleben. After very good test drives, however, a bitter setback followed during the first free practice session on Friday morning. At the end of the start-finish straight, Johannes Kapfinger hit the barriers hard with his Porsche 911 GT3 R, which was again designed in the eye-catching design by team partner Twin Busch, and severely damaged the car in the process.
Fortunately, the driver was uninjured thanks to the Porsche's very high safety standards, but a lot of work awaited the crew of mechanics led by technical director Marvin Schiffarth. With a great deal of effort, the technicians managed to get the Porsche back into top condition by Saturday's qualifying, but the second free practice session, which was cancelled due to the repairs, caused the two drivers to lose their experience on the demanding track in the Börde.

Michael Kapfinger, who took over qualifying on Saturday, was on his way to a good lap time when a red flag from an accident threw a spanner in the works. In the last minutes after the interruption, the 20-year-old was unable to improve, so that in the end he finished 10th on the grid.

Shortly after the start of the race, Michael Kapfinger was able to improve by several positions with impressive manoeuvres and came into the pits at the earliest possible time. His brother Johannes, who got back into the car for the first time since his accident on Friday, came back to the track in fifth place after the driver change and was immediately back to race speed. Until the end of the race, he was able to fend off all attacks from the drivers behind him and drove home fifth place.

On Sunday, Johannes Kapfinger wanted to build on his great performances from Saturday's race in qualifying. Unfortunately, the driver from Regensburg had several bad luck with the traffic in the short qualifying session and also struggled a bit with the set-up of the car. With 10th place, the brothers again started the race from a midfield position.

For the race, the Joos technicians changed the set-up, so that the Porsche 911 GT3 R now suited the drivers much better. Starting driver Johannes Kapfinger was able to make up several positions after the start of the race, just like his brother the day before. The mandatory pit stop was completed by the Joos team at the ideal time and at an optimal pace, so that Michael Kapfinger found himself in fifth place afterwards. Due to a penalty from an opponent and a great overtaking manoeuvre, the young driver fought his way up to third place and defended this podium position until the finish.

After a very good start to the season despite the difficult start, the Joos by Twin Busch team is in fourth place in the championship after the first race weekend. The next event will take place in Zandvoort from 7 – 9 June.

Michael Joos, Team Principal: "First of all, I'm very proud of my whole team. Not only did we get the Porsche fit again in time after the accident, but we were also able to gain a lot of places in the races thanks to perfect pit stops. Before the season, I was convinced that Johannes and Michael could compete at the very front at this level and they proved that here. Although the StWhile this wasn't ideal for our Porsche, we saw what was possible for us. That makes me very optimistic for the rest of the season."

Michael Kapfinger, driver: "After the setback on Friday, the team did an incredible job to get the car ready to drive again. We also worked perfectly as a team in the races and were able to make up positions at both pit stops thanks to good strategies. In addition, our pace in the races was extremely strong and the car felt great. As a result, we were able to score our first podium, which felt extremely good. We can build on that, because there is only one way: up!"

Johannes Kapfinger, driver: "The start of the weekend was of course turbulent with my accident in free practice and unfortunately gave the mechanics a lot of work. Thank you very much for the great work of the team in getting the car back to its best condition until qualifying! I wasn't completely satisfied with my qualifying, but our race pace was great because the car went unbelievably well. We can be very satisfied with fifth and third place, more was simply not possible here. Now we're concentrating on the next races at Zandvoort!"

Sorce: Team Joss Sportwagentechnik