Summer, sun, beach and sea? What are the ADAC GT Masters drivers and teams doing in the summer break until the fourth race weekend of the season gets under way at the Nürburgring (2nd-4th August)? Super Sports Car League drivers went off to places like New York, the South of France, Belgium and the Dutch North Sea coast, but very few of them had holidays on their minds.
Porsche driver Nicolas Armindo jetted to New York, not for shopping or a break, but to race in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. However, Armindo did not see the chequered flag at the natural-terrain Lime Rock racetrack that is located about 150 km away from the east coast metropolis after his team-mate made a late contact with the wall.
Armindo´s team-mate Christian Engelhart is one of the busiest drivers in the ADAC GT Masters. The Bavarian lines up in the Super Sports Car League, in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and in the Porsche Supercup. In addition, Engelhart took a trip to the day of testing for the 24 Hours of Spa and posted a few laps in the FACH Porsche 911 GT3 R run by Otto Klohs. How Engelhart manages to find the time to study for his degree in engineering vehicle technology is a complete mystery.
Studying is also at the top of the agenda for ADAC GT Masters defending champion Sebastian Asch. The Audi driver is working hard towards his engineering degree and can be pleased at having already successfully passed two exams. To celebrate, Asch will contest the 24 Hours of Spa in a Porsche 911 GT3 R with Otto Klohs, Jens Richter and Martin Ragginger at the end of the month.
No major tourist destination in prospect for Porsche driver Martin Ragginger. The Austrian went to Ordos in Inner Mongolia during the first weekend in July to contest a round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. Result of the trip to China: two second places.
Callaway Competition used the summer break for testing their Corvette Z06.R GT3 on the Nürburgring and at Hockenheim.
Testing was also on PIXUM Team Schubert´s programme. The BMW team took their Z4 GT3 to Austria´s Red Bull Ring, which is the venue for the second of three ADAC GT Masters race weekends that take place in August.
Maximilian Buhk, René Rast and Dominik Baumann all shared the same itinerary. They went from the three-hour Blancpain Series race in Le Castellet on the French Mediterranean to the FIA GT on the Dutch North Sea coast at Zandvoort. The trip proved especially worthwhile for Maximilian Buhk and Dominik Baumann. Maximilian Buhk was fifth in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in the South of France and won his first FIA GT race at Zandvoort. Baumann won at Zandvoort in the Pro Am class in Grasser Racing´s Lamborghini together with Hari Proczyk.
The three Audi drivers Rahel Frey, Markus Winkelhock and Christopher Haase were busy racing in the South of France and in Belgium. They travelled from the Blancpain Race on the Cote d´Azur to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium to do pre-testing for the 24 Hours of Spa at the end of the month.
ADAC GT Masters championship leader Christopher Mies is also eagerly anticipating the 24 Hours of Spa. The Audi driver will share an R8 LMS ultra on the Ardennes rollercoaster with sports car world champion André Lotterer and former DTM driver Frank Stippler.
Maximilian Götz is also working up a sweat for the long distance classic in Belgium. The ADAC GT Masters defending champion is preparing for the 24-hour marathon with an intensive fitness programme. Götz will take to the grid in Belgium in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG prepared by HTP Motorsport, the name that Polarweiss Racing use in the ADAC GT Masters, together with ADAC GT Masters team-mate Maximilian Buhk and DTM record champion Bernd Schneider.
Frank Kechele is now busy at home doing some maintenance. Kechele is decorating his apartment in Munich after a no-fault retirement in Vita4One Racing´s BMW Z4 GT in the Blancpain Series at Le Castellet.
Christian Hohenadel is heading south. The Corvette driver just decided last minute to grab a few things and disappear for a short break in southern Europe.