From Salzburgring to Styria: Just a week after the race weekend on the outskirts of Salzburg, the ADAC GT Masters paddock headed 200 kilometres south to its next destination. At the Red Bull Ring, venue for the fifth round of the 2025 season, the aim was to seek just reward for the hard work of Alain Valente and Carrie Schreiner.
“The Audi felt really good in the free practice sessions,” both drivers agreed. In the first qualifying session on Saturday, Valente set his stall out for the weekend with a spot on the third row of the grid. For Land-Motorsport, it was the best qualifying result of the season so far. “I was a little early on my final lap, so there was definitely the potential for more,” said the 28-year-old, who was even a little disappointed with the time.
In the race, however, the German-Swiss pairing were unable to defend this strong grid position. Starting from fifth, the #68 Audi fell to 13th by the end of the race.
Precisely 24 hours later, the situation was much the same. In race two on Sunday, the pair crossed the line in 15th after 60 minutes of racing. Things didn’t go entirely to plan for the duo in qualifying already, with the mixture of damp and dry conditions proving unpredictable for Schreiner. “It really wasn’t easy on slicks in those conditions,” said Schreiner, who celebrated her 27th birthday on Sunday.
In three weeks’ time, Valente and Schreiner will be competing in the season finale at the Hockenheimring. Both have fond memories of the circuit in Baden-Württemberg, with Schreiner finishing third there in the ADAC GT Masters in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 in 2019 and Valente scoring two podiums in the past two years.
