The winter break is over and the 2017 ADAC GT Masters has started with two days of testing. Connor De Phillippi was fastest in the first of the six sessions, driving an Audi R8 LMS entered by Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. Last year's champion was well ahead of the field in the one-hour session with a best time of 1:27.018 minutes.

"This has obviously been a good start," said De Phillippi. "But it was a rather strange session. There were frequent short showers, so everyone was proceeding with caution and not willing to take any risks. Consequently, the times are not hugely significant."

Second fastest was Christopher Haase (29, GER) in the second of the two Audis entered by Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. The 2007 ADAC GT Masters champion was 0.780 seconds slower than his team-mate with a time of 1:27.798 minutes. In third place was Sven Barth (36, GER), whose RWT Racing Corvette C7 GT3 had led the session for a long time and was only 78 thousandths slower than Haase. "We're learning more with every lap," says Barth. "We're only driven a few laps in the new Corvette, but the car is a big step forward compared to the previous version."

Fourth fastest was another Corvette man, Daniel Keilwitz (27, GER). The Callaway Racing driver clocked a time of 1:28.073 minutes. Completing the Top Five was Audi driver Marc Busch (29, GER) making a debut appearance for Twin Busch Motorsport in the ADAC GT Masters with a time of 1:28.403 minutes.

The ADAC GT Masters contestants can look forward to two more sessions today (Tuesday) and three tomorrow (Wednesday).