Three race weekends and six races have been completed so far in the 2013 ADAC GT Masters. Two drivers who impressed last year are again among the fastest this spring in the ADAC GT Masters: Jeroen den Boer and Simon Knap in the BMW Z4 prepared by DB Motorsport, the only Dutch outfit in the ADAC GT Masters. The two Dutchmen, who last year notched up the BMW's first victory in the Super Sports Car League, finished on the podium in Oschersleben and at Spa-Francorchamps, taking the lead in the championship. Den Boer/Knap are placed third in the standings, one point behind fellow BMW drivers Claudia Hürtgen/Dominik Baumann (PIXUM Team Schubert), after their P5 at the Sachsenring.

"Unfortunately, we had some bad luck in qualifying at the Sachsenring," said Jeroen den Boer, speaking about the third race weekend of the season. "What's more, we had a puncture in the first race, which set us back a fair bit." Den Boer's fastest lap in the first race and P5 in the second showed that the two DB Motorsport drivers had the potential for another podium finish at the Sachsenring.

"It was very difficult to assess where we stand in the pecking order before the start of the season," said den Boer, whose father Ewoud den Boer founded DB Motorsport. "But we worked very hard during the winter and knew that we would be among the front-runners."

DB Motorsport is a small team: "We are quite tiny compared to the other outfits in the ADAC GT Masters. Apart from the two drivers, there are usually only five others at the track. The atmosphere in the team is great. We all work hand in hand and can really pull together as we are so small."

Den Boer and Knap are still relatively unknown to many German fans. 25-year-old den Boer took the classic route into motor racing via karting and then worked his way up through various one-make series in the Netherlands with MINI, Seat and Suzuki, finally winning the title in the Dutch Touring Car Diesel Cup. A season in Belgium at the wheel of a BMW 320si in WTCC trim then followed. Having good contacts with BMW, DB Motorsport subsequently bought a BMW Z4 GT3 at the end of 2010 and den Boer continued his racing career in the compact BMW GT3 sports car.

Knap, who is one year younger than den Boer, also gained experience with BMW before competing in the Z4 GT3; he started out in Formula Ford and then fielded a BMW M3 GT4 for several years in the Dutch GT4 Championship. After a test outing in the ADAC GT Masters race at Assen in 2011, the Dutch team has been a permanent feature on the ADAC GT Masters grid since the 2012 season.

The brilliant performance by the BMW duo at the start of the year means that the two Dutch drivers are title contenders. "We didn't know the tracks last year, and the championship was completely new to us. We now have one year's experience under our belts, and we know the circuits quite well by now. Moreover, we even have our own simulator back at team headquarters which we utilise to prepare thoroughly for races and which we are constantly improving. However, the next races at the Nürburgring and the Red Bull Ring will not be easy for us, which is why it was so important to build up a points cushion in the first few races."