(Motorsport-Total.com) – 24h Nürburgring, DTM, GTC-Race, GT4-Germany: the list of racing series and events in which the space drive system from Schaeffler-Paravan was used in 2021 is long. However, the ADAC GT Masters is missing from this list. Will the technology be installed in one of the GT3 racing cars used there in 2022? Markus Winkelhock would be happy.
© Alexander Trienitz
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Do we see Markus Winkelhock in such a space drive Audi in the GT Masters?
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“The intention is definitely there, very clear. It is at the start in many other series. I would definitely welcome it. I would like to drive it in the ADAC GT Masters, precisely because the whole system is built and developed by my sponsor will “, emphasizes the Audi driver on the sidelines of the race weekend of the German GT Championship in Hockenheim.
Winkelhock is the ideal contact for matters relating to the space drive system. The German knows steer-by-wire technology inside out. Winkelhock has been involved as a driver since the system was first used in motorsport in 2019.
© ADAC Motorsport
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Markus Winkelhock is sponsored by Paravan Zoom
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In 2020 the 41-year-old won the GTC race with his Space Drive Audi. This year he replaced Sophia Flörsch at the DTM weekend at the Nürburgring, as she decided to start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that was taking place at the same time.
Above all, the commitment with at times three vehicles in the DTM made enormous progress at Schaeffler-Paravan, even if one from the Spielberg event removed the system from Sophia Flörsch’s Audi and Timo Glock’s BMW.
Markus Winkelhock: Space-Drive still has deficits
However, these enormous advances are not yet sufficient for a fully developed system. Winkelhock still wants to give Space-Drive some time: “We are still in the middle of development, so there is some talk that it is not yet as good as a ‘normal’ steering system. There are certainly still one or the other deficit . “
Space-Drive in the ADAC GT Masters 2020 at the Lausitzring
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Nonetheless, he is optimistic: “But when you talk about a lap time of one, two or three tenths, that suggests that the system is not bad. But it is definitely still in the development phase at the moment.”
That is why Winkelhock expects a clear step forward with a view to 2022: “You are working on it at the moment and I think that you will certainly make one or two leaps in the next few months. Then you will be on a completely different level next year , and then take a look. Maybe you can see it in the GT Masters next year too. “
The Schaeffler-Paravan space drive system has steer-by-wire technology. The steering unit and steering gear are therefore not connected via a classic steering column, but via a cable. The system was used in the ADAC GT Masters so far only at the 2020 season opener at the Lausitzring in action in the Porsche 911 GT3 R owned by Martin Ragginger / Norbert Siedler.
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