The dress rehearsal is over, so the season can commence. The ADAC GT Masters teams and drivers prepared for the upcoming season in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben with two days of testing. The season will get under way at the racetrack in Oschersleben on the weekend of 28th - 30th April. The fastest lap time of anyone in the six test sessions went to Porsche team Precote Herberth Motorsport.
A total of 30 cars took part in testing. What was once again most striking was the highly competitive nature of the field. At the end of some of the sessions, just one second covered as many as 17 vehicles. Best time of anyone went to Porsche works driver Kévin Estre (28, F), who was driving the Porsche 911 prepared by Precote Herberth Motorsport for test purposes. The Frenchman was the fastest driver on both days. His team-mate Sven Müller (25, DEU), who was only slightly slower than Estre, was the best of the drivers entered in the Super Sports Car League. As a result, Team Principal Alfred Renauer was very upbeat about the results: "We're very satisfied with the tests. Things could hardly have gone better. I think that we're well placed for the season opener, even if the other teams improve." His brother Robert (32, DEU), who shares the car with Sven Müller, finished fourth overall.
Another Porsche driver, Klaus Bachler (25, A) was the third-fastest in testing. The Team Schütz Motorsport driver set the record for the fourth-best time during the session on Wednesday morning in his Porsche 911. "We've worked well and were in front on both days. I'm looking forward to the start of the season in just two and a half weeks' time," said Bachler.
Kelvin van der Linde (20, ZA) in the Audi R8 prepared by Aust Motorsport placed fifth on aggregate across all the sessions. Last year's champion and team-mate Connor De Phillippi (24, USA) was the fastest driver in the first test session. Consequently, team-mate Christopher Mies (27, DEU) was highly satisfied: "Conditions were very cold, but we were able to try out a number of things. However, since all the teams were running different programmes, we won't get to see exactly where we really stand until the season kicks off."
Daniel Keilwitz (27, DEU) and Mathieu Jaminet (22, F) also impressed with a best time in one of the six sessions. Keilwitz was the fastest on Tuesday in the Corvette C7 fielded by Callaway Competition, while ADAC GT Masters newcomer Jaminet in the Porsche 911 prepared by KÜS TEAM75 Bernhard headed the standings in the final session which was hit by rain at times.
Teams and drivers will return to Oschersleben in 16 days' time for the first of a total of seven race weekends taking place during the 2017 season when the first series of points will be scored in the drivers' standings, in the team rankings, in the trophy competition for amateur drivers and in the category for juniors.
Top 5, Test day 1
1. Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,501 mins
2. Sven Müller (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,745 mins
3. Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,989 mins
4. Connor De Phillippi (Audi R8 LMS), 1.27,018 mins
5. Daniel Keilwitz (Corvette C7 GT3), 1.27,068 mins
Top 5, Test day 2
1. Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,784 mins
2. Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26.852 mins
3. Robert Renauer (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,976 mins
4. Kelvin van der Linde (Audi R8 LMS), 1.26,985 mins
5. Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.27,100 mins
Top 5, both test days combined
1. Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,501 mins
2. Sven Müller (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,745 mins
3. Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26.852 mins
4. Robert Renauer (Porsche 911 GT3 R), 1.26,976 mins
5. Kelvin van der Linde (Audi R8 LMS), 1.26,985 mins
SPORT1 will once again broadcast all races of the ADAC GT Masters live and in full on free-to-air TV during 2017. Tickets for the seven race weekends are available online at www.adac.de/motorsport.