Friday afternoon marked the start of the tenth season of the Super Sports Car League. The quickest lap was set by Christopher Mies (26, DEU, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) in an Audi R8. The two one-hour races at Oschersleben on Saturday and Sunday (start time 13:15) and all other races of the 2016 ADAC GT Masters season will be broadcast live and in full on the free-to-air TV channel SPORT1.

On a track which stayed wet for the full duration of the first free practice session, the ADAC GT Masters contestants traded the first blows of the campaign. The fastest time went to Audi man Mies. The Heiligenhaus-based driver, who is this year sharing the cockpit of an Audi with Connor De Phillippi (23, USA), posted a fastest time of 1:38.975 minutes. There were three red flags caused by vehicles skidding off the track. "I just caught the right moment," said Mies. "Just before the rain got heavier, I managed to put in a fast lap. The car was going really well, so it´s a shame that there were so many interruptions. I would have liked more time out on track."

Taking second place in the timesheets was another of the ten new R8s on this season´s grid: Markus Pommer (25, DEU) and Markus Winkelhock (35, DEU, both of Phoenix Racing) were more than three tenths of a second adrift of Mies. Third place went to Felix Rosenqvist (24, SWE) and Nikolaj Rogivue (19, SUI, both of AMG - Team Zakspeed) in a Mercedes-AMG. The sister car driven by reigning champions Luca Ludwig (27, DEU) and Sebastian Asch (29, DEU) came in sixth. Separating them from the Top Three were Norbert Siedler (33, DEU) and Jaap van Lagen (38, NL, both of HB Racing WDS) in a Lamborghini Huracán and Laurens Vanthoor (24, BEL) and Florian Stoll (34, DEU, both of kfzteile24 - Apr Motorsport) in an Audi R8. Making his ADAC GT Masters debut at Oschersleben is Martin Tomczyk (34, DEU, Schubert Motorsport) who is standing in for BMW M6 regular Louis Delétraz (19, SUI). The DTM star partnering Jesse Krohn (25, FIN) ended the session in a midfield position.

Four classifications promise exciting title contests

In addition to the driver and team championships, the 2016 ADAC GT Masters features a Junior classification and a Trophy. The Trophy, formerly known as the Gentlemen class, is reserved for non-professional drivers. Titleholder Andreas Weishaupt (43, DEU, Bentley Team ABT) in a Bentley Continental will be up against the challenge of Remo Lips (33, SUI, RWT Racing) in a Corvette, Rolf Ineichen (37, SUI, GRT Grasser Racing Team) in a Lamborghini Huracán and the Car Collection pairing of Florian Scholze (42, DEU) and Dominic Jöst (37, DEU) in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Also vying for Trophy honours is series newcomer Steve Feige in the Nissan GT-R entered by MRS GT Racing.

The field contesting the Junior Cup for drivers under 25 years is even larger. The following young drivers will be competing for this particular title which is new to the ADAC GT Masters in 2016 (alphabetical order):

Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky (23, SWE, Aust Motorsport)

Patrick Assenheimer (23, DEU, Callaway Competition)

Connor De Phillippi (23, USA, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport)

Marvin Dienst (19, DEU, bigFM Racing Team Schütz Motorsport)

Andre Gies (22, DEU, ADAC NSA / Attempto Racing Team)

Jules Gounon (21, FRA, Callaway Competition)

Fabian Hamprecht (20, DEU, Bentley Team ABT)

Loris Hezemans (18, NL, Callaway Competition)

Peter Hoevenaars (20, NL, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport)

Patrick Kujala (19, FIN. Bonaldi Motorsport)

Emil Lindholm (19, FIN/ADAC NSA / Attempto Racing Team)

Jordan Lee Pepper (19, SAF, Bentley Team ABT)

Nikolaj Rogivue (19, CH, AMG - Team Zakspeed)

Lukas Schreier (20, DEU, Aust Motorsport)

Luca Stolz (20, DEU, GRT Grasser-Racing-Team)

Emanuele Zonzini (22, RSM, Bonaldi Motorsport)