The ADAC GT Masters series will have been on its winter break for precisely 201 days when action in the Super Sports Car League recommences next weekend (24th to 26th April) at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. Here are some fascinating facts ahead of the first two races which will be broadcast live in their entirety on the SPORT1 channel. Coverage commences at 1pm CEST on both Saturday and Sunday.
- The ADAC GT Masters embarks on its ninth season at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. This will be the eighth consecutive year that the venue near Magdeburg has been used for the season opener.
- Oschersleben has hosted more ADAC GT Masters races than any other circuit. A total of 20 races in the Super Sports Car League have already been contested on Germany's northernmost racetrack. The most successful supercars at Oschersleben have been the BMW ALPINA B6 and the Audi R8, each having recorded four victories.
- Four former or reigning champions along with 16 race-winning drivers will be lining up on the 2015 grid.
- The second race of the 2015 campaign at Oschersleben on Sunday will be the 120th in the history of the ADAC GT Masters. There have been 76 drivers who have notched up at least one race win since the inaugural season in 2007.
- No driver has yet managed a successful title defence in the following season. It's a different story in the team championship, however, where both Reiter Engineering (2007/2008) and Prosperia C.Abt Racing (2013/2014) retained their titles.
- The new TV partner channel SPORT1 will have more live coverage of ADAC GT Masters action than has ever been broadcast before. Including the build-up and post-race analysis, SPORT1 will be showing 105 minutes on both Saturday and Sunday, making a total of 3½ hours' live coverage on each of the eight race weekends.
- The super sports car with the highest top speed in the ADAC GT Masters at Oschersleben is the Chevrolet Camaro. Last year, ex-Formula 1 driver Tomas Enge was clocked doing a top speed of 249.2 kph.
- For the first time ever, the 2015 ADAC GT Masters will be visiting five current or former Formula 1 circuits. In addition to the Nürburgring and Hockenheim, the Super Sports Car League will be hosted by the Red Bull Ring in Austria, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
- From the first free practice session at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben until the final race in Hockenheim on 4th October, the 2015 ADAC GT Masters season will span 163 days.
- Oschersleben can always be relied upon to deliver close finishes. In three of the last six races at the Motorsport Arena, the winner crossed the line less than 0.5 seconds ahead of the runner up.
- Bentley is a newcomer to the 2015 grid. It becomes the 17th marque to have contested the ADAC GT Masters since the inaugural season in 2007.
- The average age of driver in the 2015 line-up is 31. The youngest entrant is rookie Jordan Lee Pepper from South Africa aged 18, while the oldest is 49-year-old Anton Wossos from Greece.
- The most successful super sports car in terms of race victories in the series is the Corvette, with 23 wins to date. The most successful driver in terms of race wins (14) is Daniel Keilwitz.
- Sebastian Asch is now the longest serving of the current crop of drivers. The 2012 champion has been competing in the ADAC GT Masters since 2008 and can look back on 91 race starts.
- There are three drivers who are total newcomers to the series: Jordan Lee Pepper and Andreas Weishaupt (both Audi) and Jakub Knoll in a BMW Z4.
Tickets, including access to the paddock, start at 20 euros
Fans who want to experience ADAC GT Masters action live at the track can now apply for tickets for the races at Oschersleben, at the Lausitzring, Nürburgring, Sachsenring and for the finale in Hockenheim. Ticket prices start at 20 euros and include access to the paddock. ADAC members can now purchase tickets for all eight race weekends via the ADAC preferential scheme. Tickets are available online at www.adac.de/gt-masters and at www.eventim.de, from any ADAC branch office and from more than 20,000 Eventim outlets throughout Europe.
The ADAC GT Masters will line up for the 2015 season in Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, staging eight events and 16 races. ADAC GT Masters races will again be shown live by ADAC new live-TV exclusive partner SPORT1, who will broadcast all 16 ADAC GT Masters races live and in their entirety in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Broadcasts will normally begin at 1 pm on race weekends.