The ADAC GT Masters will have an optimised package for the 2016 season. Continuity in the calendar, new breathtaking super sports cars, an improved qualifying setup and a new highlights magazine to complement live broadcasts on SPORT1 will form the cornerstones of the tenth Super Sports Car League season which ADAC Sports President Hermann Tomczyk and ADAC Director of Motorsport Lars Soutschka presented on Saturday at Hockenheim.
The ADAC GT Masters is aiming for continuity as regards the calendar and will line up again next year on all five regular race circuits in Germany – the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Sachsenring, Nürburgring, Lausitzring and Hockenheimring – and at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The venues for another one/two events as well as the detailed race schedule will be confirmed shortly. Seven or eight race weekends are scheduled for the coming season.
Many new, spectacular supercars like the Mercedes-AMG GT3, BMW M6 GT3 and the new Audi R8, Porsche 911 and Corvette will be eligible to start next year, guaranteeing even greater appeal. Vehicles will be classified so as to ensure equality of opportunity between the supercars of the new generation and the current models.
All ADAC GT Masters races will be broadcast live and in full length next year by SPORT1 on free-to-air TV. Germany´s leading sports broadcaster extended the TV contract up to and including the 2017 well before the renewal date. The TV package will also be even more attractive in the coming year, as a magazine of highlights featuring the best scenes and up-to-date news from the ADAC GT Masters and the ADAC Formula 4 will be broadcast on Sundays during the 2016 season at 21:45 CET.
The qualifying format will also be improved next year. In 2016, qualifying will be staged on Saturday and Sunday mornings before each race. The new schedule has already been successfully tested at the Sachsenring race weekend at the request of participants. Fans and teams will benefit from this new timetable, because rescheduling qualifying to the two race days means that cars will be seen out on track for much longer and that teams can save money as a result of the event starting later on a Friday. It is envisaged that qualifying will start at 09:00 CET next year.
The ADAC GT Masters will again be joined by the ADAC Formula 4 for the majority of events in 2016. The new ADAC TCR Germany will complement what is offered on an ADAC GT Masters weekend.
ADAC Sports President Hermann Tomczyk: "The ADAC GT Masters platform will be even more attractive next year. In addition to the ADAC GT Masters and the ADAC Formula 4, the ADAC TCR Germany will round off a very varied race weekend. The ADAC GT Masters platform will show the whole gamut of ADAC motor sport, providing a range of racing, from juniors through to grassroots racing and top-level sport, and equality of opportunity, tailored to the classification requirements of current and new-generation GT3 models."
ADAC Director of Motorsport Lars Soutschka: "We have developed the series further for the ADAC GT Masters´ tenth anniversary. A modified format for qualifying will provide more on track action for fans while at the same time reducing costs for teams."
The sporting regulations will remain largely unchanged in 2016, but some fine adjustments may be necessary. Entry for the ADAC GT Masters season 2016 will be possible in the near future.