WestCoast Racing will make its debut race in the German GT-series GT Masters. The round is held at the Nürburgring GP-track and team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth expects a tough weekend from which the team can learn a lot.
”Firstly we are here to learn for the future. We know the competition in GT Masters is the hardest possible and that’s why we want to be here. For us this is above anything else a test race but we’ve had two good test days at Hockenheim so it’s exciting to see how we will measure up in this tough competition,” he says.

WestCoast Racing will be the first team that will participate in the German series with the new BMW Z4 GT3 this season. During the week the team has tested at Hockenheim where Fredrik Lestrup and Lars Stugemo, the drivers for the weekend, were joined by WestCoast Racing’s multiple touring car champion Richard Göransson. Fredrik Lestrup looks forward to the weekend.
”We had two very good test days and made a lot of progress,” Fredrik says. ”It’s good prep work for the weekend, both for us as drivers and the whole team. We’ve found a stable set-up as a base and it’s been a good measurement to have Richard Göransson with us to provide feedback and competitive times.”

Fredrik expects to meet tough competition this weekend and keep his expectations low.
”Hopefully we can qualify well but the other teams have a lot of experience of not only the races in GT Masters but also the important pit stops. We must see this as a test race and evaluation for the future. We will face the a lot of hard competitors and we have a lot to learn. It’s not realistic to expect us to be at the front in our first race here but of course we always strive and aim high. It will be a lot of fun!”

Fredrik Lestrup will share the car with Lars Stugemo and they won the last race in the Swedish GT-series about a month ago. Lars Stugemo has previously driven selected VLN-rounds and the 24-hour race at Nordschleife and looks forward to drive his first race on the GP-track in GT Masters.
”I’ve had a lot of fun during our tests this weekend and this is a real adventure. WestCoast Racing is a great team and it’s been very helpful for me to test together with both Fredrik and Richard Göransson. Thanks to them I’ve improved and it’s great to see how fast Fredrik is. I need a good team mate and this weekend I will have that as well as a good car and a great team. I’m looking forward to this. I expect it to be very tough as there are no easy races at Nürburgring. The others have a lot of experience from this so it will be exciting,” Lars says.

Time schedule, GT Masters Nürburgring:

Friday July 8th:
08:30: Free practice, 1 hour
12:15: Free practice, 1 hour
15:10: Qualifying, 50 minutes

Saturday July 9th:
12:00: Race 1, one hour

Sunday July 9th:
12:00: Race 2, one hour

ADAC GT Masters official site