Boris Bermes

From Johannes’ Seidlitz team manager’s point of view it must have been the most difficult year in his career. In his opinion it was a hard and rocky year but Johannes did a good job. “He is prepared for the next steps and for bigger actions!“
At the beginning there were many detractors who meant that he is to young for the DTM. However Johannes has proved that he is able to fight and he is able to establish himself within very difficult circumstances. Certainly you could see that on some race tracks Johannes had some difficulties but at others he positively surprised.

Colin Kolles

Johannes showed that he has the same speed like both of his team mates although he has less experience in motorsport. You could see that Johannes developed thru out the season. Team principal Dr. Colin Kolles who has followed him in detail has the same point of view. “For me Johannes has more potential than many other drivers. He has not much experience but he did a good job and he is very young. The talent to drive a car fast is there!“
According to Boris Bermes Johannes has good chances in formula motorsport as well as in the DTM.
Team principal Dr. Colin Kolles and team manager Boris Bermes recommend a cockpit in the Team KOLLES for Johannes for the 2010 season at this time. Johannes is welcome to participate at the tests which the team has planed for December.

November 2009

Dear visitors of my homepage,

the start of my first DTM season wasn’t really easy for me because I didn’t have a great experience with the AUDI A4 DTM 07. The first race in Hockenheim was super. My kick off was without any mistakes. The race at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz however stopped me a little bit because I had to pause for the next two races due to damages at my car. After that my performance curve went continuously up. At the Nürburgring I saw the chequered flag in front of my KOLLES Futurecom-TME – team mate Tomas Kostka for the first time. In Barcelona’s qualifying I even was in front of both of my team mates Christian Bakkerud and Tomas Kostka who are much more experienced. At the finale in Hockenheim I finished 13th and that was my best season result.

I have learned a lot this season and I have had also a lot of fun. There were ups and downs. I am very satisfied with the season.

I stood up to my team mates and I showed that I have the talent and the will. The team has supported me brilliantly and my car was always perfectly prepared.

Many, many thanks from here to my mechanic Sebastian Martin, to my engineer Mario Gargiulo, to our team manager Boris Bermes and to the whole KOLLES Futurecom-TME – team!
Special thanks to the team owner Dr. Colin Kolles who was the one who made my DTM debut possible.

We have to do our plannings for next season soon and we will try to do another year in the DTM.

Sincerely yours

Johannes

Last weekend the annual DTM season finale took place at the Hockenheimring and Johannes Seidlitz was fully motivated for the race weekend having a new helmet design. Johannes did his usual program in the roll-out. In Saturday’s morning free practice the track was wet at the beginning. The conditions were ok for Johannes. He did some laps on wet tyres after that he and the KOLLES Futurecom-TME – Team waited for the 4.574 km track to dry. At the end of the free practice Johannes did some laps on slick tyres although the track was still wet in some sectors. The qualifying didn’t go so well like it could have been. He lost his left earplug under the helmet. Without the earplug it was very loud and painful for Johannes and due to the time limit he had to do his two qualifying stints in those conditions. Johannes wasn’t satisfied with his qualifying because he wasn’t able to do a perfect lap in those conditions. Johannes did a long run in the warm-up on the damp track. He started the 39 lap race from P20. At the beginning of the race Johannes had to go round his team mate Christian Bakkerud who spun at the north corner (Nordkurve).

In the second lap Johannes overtook two competitors and was already on P16. In the meantime the 19-year-old driver was already on P15, was driving very well and with consistent and quick lap times. Johannes did his mandatory pit stops in lap 12 and 25. The stops were brilliant. After his first stop Johannes spun at turn 2 which costed him time. In lap 32 the safety car came on to the track because Susie Stoddart has hit the tyre piles in turn 1. The race was restarted in lap 36. Johannes did a great re-start and passed Christian Bakkerud. Johannes and his team mate Bakkerud fought shoulder to shoulder. The duel was hard but fair. After all Johannes finished just behind his experienced team mate and achieved with position 13 his best DTM result till now. “I am happy with the weekend. The race was great fun and I achieved my best result. Especially the duels in the race were super. I learned a lot this season and after all I am pleased. Let’s wait what is going to happen next year. My aim is to be in the DTM again. I would like to thank the whole KOLLES Futurecom-TME – Team for the great teamwork this season.“

For the first time the DTM was at the 3.801km circuit in Burgundy last weekend. Johannes Seidlitz started optimistically into the race weekend which began for him as always with a roll-out on Friday. Johannes and the KOLLES Futurecom-TME – Team did pit stop practice which worked well. Furthermore Johannes tried to do as many laps as possible till the end of the roll-out. The free practice took place in wet conditions. For Johannes it was difficult because he has never driven a DTM race car in the wet. To complicate matters further the circuit Dijon-Prenois is a very fast race track. Johannes did several short stints and together with his engineer he analysed the so important data. In total he did 43 laps. The first priority was not to do fast laps but to collect data. Johannes was satisfied with the practice in the wet. The stints were good and he learned a lot. The qualifying took place in dry conditions and Johannes got along. “The qualifying worked well for me. I was able to improve with my second set of tyres and I was only a bit behind Tomas Kostka.“ Johannes started the race from P19 in front of his team mate Christian Bakkerud.

Johannes did a long run in the warm-up before the race which worked well. The start of the race wasn’t so good for Johannes. He couldn’t see the starting lights and his engineer had to tell him on the radio when to start. In the first lap he stayed away from all quarrelings. In lap ten there was a duel between Katherine Legge and Christian Bakkerud. The result of the duel was that Bakkerud turned around into the gravel. A few seconds later the misfortune happened. “I missed the breaking point which caused me going off line onto the dirty part of the track and the rear of my car slipped.“ So Johannes turned backwards into the gravel with his race car and hit the car of his team mate Christian Bakkerud who was unluckily still in the gravel of turn one. That meant the end of the race. “In my opinion my weekend was planed totally different but I have learned a lot. The car will be ready again for Hockenheim.“

The DTM season finale will take place at the Hockenheimring from the 23rd to the 25th October.

Im Interview spricht der jüngste DTM-Pilot der aktuellen Saison über die Herausforderungen der DTM, das Verhältnis zu seinen Fahrer-Kollegen und seine Emotionen vor einem Start.
Quelle und weitere Informationen: sportschau.de

>> zum Interview

For Johannes Seidlitz and the KOLLES Futurecom-TME – Team the weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona started with a roll-out on Friday. First of all Johannes had to get familiar with the 2.977 km track. At the beginning in Saturday’s free practice the track was very slippery and dirty. Johannes did his programme as usual but after around 20 laps he was interrupted. His car had a problem with the steering and the repairing costed a lot of time. At the end of the free practice Johannes was able to do some laps again. It became serious in midday’s qualifying. Johannes did a good job. He was faster than both of his experienced team mates Tomas Kostka and Christian Bakkerud. ”The qualifying was very good. The car was superb and I was in front of my team mates.“ After Ralf Schumacher was put back to the end of the grid due to an engine change Johannes was put another position forward so that he started from P17.

During the race Johannes had to deal with some problems. His AUDI A4 DTM 07 was difficult to handle and the first stint didn’t go well. Due to engine overheating Johannes had to drop back a bit. Johannes did both of his mandatory pit stops in lap 22 and 42. Unfortunately he had to do a third unscheduled pit stop because it seemed on the straight that he could get some tyre problems. To avoid a puncher Johannes decided with the team to change tyres to be on the safe side. With having done three pit stops he finished on P18 and was not content. After his pleasant qualifying Johannes was hoping for a better result in the race. ”My race weekend was good till Saturday evening. After that it didn’t go well. The second and third stint were very good in the race but with having some problems and having to deal with a third pit stop didn’t allow to get a better position. All in all the race was not ideal but it is positive that all three cars of the team were able to close the gap to the 2008 models. Now I am looking forward to the next race in Dijon.“
The next DTM race will take place in Dijon / France on the 11th October.

Last weekend Johannes Seidlitz did his first overseas race with his AUDI A4 DTM 07 in Brands Hatch. The free practice on the 1.929 km ”Indy-track“ went well for Johannes in Brands Hatch. He did some short runs and one long run. He only had a problem with the front suspension of his car and did 61 laps in total. Nothing worked in hands in qualifying for Johannes. He didn’t get his best sector times in one lap together. In the first qualifying segment Johannes improved his qualifying time but he wasn’t satisfied with it. After qualifying Johannes was penalised for blocking Ralf Schumacher. At the end of his qualifying on the way back to the pit, Johannes checked his rear mirror too late. When Johannes saw Ralf Schumacher’s Mercedes in his rear mirror he switched to the left but Ralf Schumacher also switched to the left. When Johannes switched to the right Ralf Schumacher did the same. Unfortunately both drove to the same side. Johannes got the minimum penalty for this action. He had to start five positions down on the grid. In additon to that he got a fine of 2000 Euros. Due to his qualifying position the penalty of going five places down didn’t do any harm to Johannes.

The race didn’t go well from Johannes’ point of view. The start went well but before turn one Johannes backed off because he wanted to survive in the first corner. Johannes and his team KOLLES Futurecom-TME had planed a long first stint for the race. The plan didn’t work out because Johannes had to come to the pit in lap 15 which was an unscheduled stop due to a puncture. The pit stop window for the mandatory pit stops was in lap 24 to 70. So Johannes had to come to the pit for a tyre change before the pit stop window was open. That meant three instead of two pit stops for Johannes in the race. Due to the short circuit that meant Johannes got passed very often and had to drive offline again and again. It was very difficult because there was a lot of dirt offline. For Johannes it was difficult to push hard with dirty tyres and he tried to get the grip back. Finally Johannes crossed the finish line on P17 and stated: “I am not happy with the weekend. The short track was a handicap for us. I am looking forward to Barcelona, the Circuit de Catalunya is a longer track with a longer straight and I think we will have better chances there.“

The next DTM race will take place on the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona on the 20th September 2009.

The race weekend at the Nürburgring began for Johannes Seidlitz in his AUDI A4 DTM 07 with a roll-out as always on Friday. Johannes used the roll-out to get familiar with the 3.629 km long short configuration of the Nürburgrings.

In Saturday’s free practice Johannes did 50 laps and was able to do similiar times like his team mates and improved constantly. Furthermore pit stop practice was on the schedule with his KOLLES Futurecom-TME-Team. In qualifying Johannes didn’t get along with his first set of tyres. He wasn’t able to show his performance like he wanted to. With his second set of tyres it went much better like in Oschersleben. In the first sector his time was four tenth of a second quicker. In total Johannes improved his qualifying time and ended on the 19th starting position. With this result he placed himself  in between his team mates Christan Bakkerud and Tomas Kostka, who ended up on P18 and P20.
In the warm-up on Sunday morning the last preparations for the race were done. Directly after the warm up Johannes had a press conference where he announced his partnership with the children project “Arche e.V.” and “VeggieTales”.

The race took place in midsummery temperatures over 30° Celsius. Johannes had a good start and also the first race lap was immaculate. He closed the gap to his team mate Christian Bakkerud who was in front of him. Gary Paffett, Maro Engel and Susie Stoddart were behind Johannes at the beginning of the race. Paffett in his Mercedes C-class 09 knocked on the rear of Johannes’ Audi and passed him. A short time later Johannes had to let Engel and Stoddart pass as well. In lap 14 Johannes came to the pits for his first stop, in lap 33 he did his second stop. Both pit stops worked well. Johannes performed well in the race, he used his brain and did his best DTM result for now.
In front of 86.000 spectators Johannes crossed the finish line after 48 laps on 14th place just behind his experienced team mate Christian Bakkerud. Johannes was pleased with his performance at the Nürburgring. ”It was a good weekend. I could improve and everything worked faultlessly. At the next race it has to work as well as here. I was fine with the heat but it was a hard race. It was my best DTM race for now. I am looking forward to the next race in Brands Hatch. In March 2008 I have won my first race in the Formel Renault BARC Championship in Brands Hatch (England). We did the nearly 2km “Indy-configuration“ which will be driven in the DTM.“

The next round of the DTM will take place in Brands Hatch (England) on the 6th of September 2009.

Johannes Seidlitz entered his third DTM weekend of his young career at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. From now on he is back after a two-race break. The race weekend started for the 19 –year old with the 30minute roll-out on Friday evening. Slowly but surely Johannes got familiar with his Audi A4 DTM 07 and got a better feeling lap by lap.

Saturday morning Johannes used the 150 minutes of the free practice well and did 56 laps in total. Continuously he improved and inter alia he did a long run of 17 laps on the 3.696 km circuit as well as two shorter “long runs“. Furthermore Johannes and his KOLLES Futurecom-TME-crew practiced pit stops at the beginning of the free practice which went well.

Saturday midday’s qualifying didn’t go so well for Johannes on his first set of tyres. Therefor the second set of tyres worked better and Johannes was happy about his improvement in qualifying.
Sunday’s race start didn’t go well for Johannes but in the first lap he could close the gap to his team mate Tomas Kostka. In lap four Johannes suddenly noticed a problem and did an unscheduled pit stop. The team had a look but couldn’t see any problem and so Johannes was sent back on the track. When he was back on the track the same problem was still there. He couldn’t steer the car correctly and could hardly go in a straight line. At the end of lap 6 Johannes came again to the pits. Due to a technical problem he decided to finish the race early in the pit.

Johannes said about his DTM weekend in the Magdeburger Boerde the following: ”I am glad to be back in the DTM. Sadly it was only a short race for me today. Although I have continuously improved myself since Friday. Now I am looking forward to the next round at the Nürburgring.“
From the 14th till the 16th of August the DTM will take place on the Grand Prix circuit in the Eifel.

Partnerschaft mit Kinderprojekt Arche e.V. und VeggieTales

Johannes Seidlitz (19), der jüngste DTM-Teilnehmer aller Zeiten, wird bereits am nächsten DTM-Rennen am 02.08.09 in Oschersleben wieder im Cockpit seines Audi des Kolles-DTM-Teams sitzen! Das gab Teamchef Dr. Colin Kolles bekannt. Seinen vielbeachteten Einstand hatte Seidlitz beim Auftaktrennen in Hockenheim. Doch ein Unfall im Training führte dazu, dass er ab dem Lausitzring - Rennen nicht starten konnte.

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