Winter Cup in Barcelona: Carrie Schreiner with both class wins and an overall podium

The last event of the 2021/22 Winter Cup on the “Circuit de Catalunya” from 11th to 13th March was a challenging one. 36 race cars of different classes and very changeable weather were a real challenge for all starters.

For the 23-year-old woman from Saarland it had even been a double debut: The first race with her new car, the Mercedes AMG GT3, and the debut with her new co-driver, the former DTM factory driver Peter Terting.

At the beginning, the event on the Spanish Formula 1 circuit in Barcelona didn't have a promising start. In the qualifying a defective gearbox prevented a fast lap. Even worse, the problem could not be pinpointed at short notice. Spontaneously, the Mercedes team "Schnitzel Alm Racing" got another AMG GT3 out of their truck and they could at least compete in the Sprint and Endurance race from the last row of the grid.

In the Sprint race, Carrie first ploughed through the field of the slower BMW, GT4 and Porsche Cup classes and in the second half of the race also managed to catch all the GT3 cars. Only the two faster LMP3 cars she could not catch, of course. So, the class win, and the overall podium were the optimal result.

In the Endurance race it was the same. Starting from P35, Carrie stormed through the field and handed over to teammate Peter Terting at the halfway point of the race, lying on P4. Despite an optimal pit stop, a lot of time had been lost due to an error by the often overstrained race management. Suddenly, for no obvious reason, the pit lights turned red, and Peter had to wait endless seconds before continuing. After having fallen back to P7, the experienced racing professional and coach showed that he had not lost any of his skills. On the second last lap he caught the third-placed Ferrari, and the team Schreiner/Terting once again took the GT3 class win and an overall podium.

So, team boss Günter Aberer was thrilled with the performance of his two drivers. "Under these adverse circumstances, an absolute dream result. Carrie overtook more than 60 (!) cars in both races without a single scratch on our AMG GT3! That shows very high racing intelligence and cleverness. Peter was really fast without any preparation and still has got what it takes. In addition, despite the problems, we had a magnificent harmony in our team."

Carrie was also very satisfied after the turbulent race day: "We made the absolute best out of the situation. I'm getting more and more comfortable with the AMG GT3 and with Peter I have a fast and experienced teammate who can also help me a lot in terms of driving. The Mercedes team "Schnitzel Alm Racing" also did a great job after the technical problems in qualifying and was very committed. I will drive three complete series this year, two of them with Mercedes AMG in GT3. More on this soon!"