This first practice session to open the fifth of seven race weekends marks the start of the final dash to the finish of the ADAC GT Masters season. Christopher Mies (27, Germany, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) in the Audi R8 won the battle against the clock at the Nürburgring. Six more pairs of Audi drivers were to be found among the Top Eight. SPORT1 will broadcast the two Super Sport Car League races live and in their entirety on free-to-air TV at 13.00 on Saturday and Sunday.
In cool temperatures and under overcast skies at the circuit in the Eifel, teams used the one-hour practice session to set up their supercars for the Nürburgring weekend. Christopher Mies succeeded in posting the fastest lap with a time of 1:28.398 minutes. "Of course, you never know in free practice what tyres teams are running, so with that in mind, times should always be taken with a pinch of salt," said Mies, who is currently joint second overall with team-mate Connor De Phillippi (23, USA). "We'll get to see in qualifying who is really strong here, but the result fills us with confidence, for sure. I think the track really suits the Audi. We'd be happy with a grid position somewhere between pole position and P3 in the first race."
The Audi teams produced a strong showing to kick off the weekend in the Eifel. The R8 of series newcomer Nicolaj Møller Madsen (23, DK) and Markus Winkelhock (36, Germany, both Phoenix Racing) booked second place with a deficit of just under three tenths of a second. Third place went to the Audi of Florian Stoll (35, Germany) and Laurens Vanthoor (25, B, both kfzteile24 APR Motorsport). Rolf Ineichen (38, CH) and Christian Engelhart (29, Germany, both GRT Grasser-Racing-Team), currently ranked fourth overall in the standings, finished fourth in the Lamborghini Huracán.
Audi came home ahead of Lamborghini to take the following positions: Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (23, S) and Marco Bonanomi (31, I, both Aust Motorsport) placed fifth, Norbert Siedler (33, A) and Jaap van Lagen (39, NL, both HB Racing WDS Bau) were sixth. Fabian Hamprecht (21, Germany) & Christer Jöns (29, Germany, both Bentley Team ABT) in the best-placed Bentley Continental and Nicolai Sylvest (19, DK) & Nikolaj Rogivue (20, CH, both AMG Team Zakspeed) in the Mercedes-AMG completed the Top Ten as they crossed the finish line behind two more Audis driven by ADAC GT Masters newcomer Dennis Busch (28, Germany) and Christopher Haase (28, Germany, both Car Collection Motorsport) and Peter Hoevenaars (21, NL) and Frédéric Vervisch (30, B, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport).
News about entries
Some of the 19 ADAC GT Masters teams have rejigged their driver line-ups for the two races at the Nürburgring. And so, Dennis Busch, who is already 'battle-hardened' on the Nordschleife, is making his series debut at Car Collection Motorsport, sharing an Audi R8 with Christopher Haase. Nicolaj Møller Madsen is also lining up for the first time in the Super Sports Car League. The Dane replaces Markus Pommer (25, Germany) at Phoenix Racing, who in turn is taking Luke Schreier's (21, Germany) place at Aust Motorsport. MRS GT-Racing have a completely new driver pairing. Marc Gassner (25, Germany), who raced for the team in the ADAC GT Masters back in 2015, will share the drive in the Nissan GT-R with Christiaan Frankenhout (34, NL ), who was formerly at Car Collection Motorsport.
After missing the weekend at the Red Bull Ring recently, Louis Delétraz (19, CH, Schubert Motorsport) and Rahel Frey (30, CH, YACO Racing) will again be in their regular cockpits in the BMW M6 and Audi R8. Klaus Bachler (25, A), who is standing in for Christopher Zanella (26, CH), will be back with Porsche team, bigFM Racing Team Schütz Motorsport.
Motor racing and more
The schedule for the Nürburgring meeting is packed with a full programme of motor racing action and entertainment from Friday through to Sunday for nine hours each day. Apart from the ADAC GT Masters, drivers from four other racing series will also be battling for points and trophies. The ADAC Formula 4 and the ADAC TCR Germany are also now approaching a decisive period in the season. The German Touring Car Cup is being contested alongside the Super Sports Cars League for the fourth time this season, while this will be the second time that the Special Touring Car Trophy has shared the billing. Fans of the ADAC GT Masters will have ample opportunity to meet their idols during the pit walk on Saturday and Sunday (at 11:10 on both days) and at the Meet the Drivers event on Saturday at 15:45 in front of ADAC Hospitality.