Milestone for the ADAC GT Masters: The 150th race in the history of the ADAC GT Masters was contested on Sunday. Determined not to miss such a special occasion, ADAC Sport President Hermann Tomczyk, ADAC Vice-President Technology Thomas Burkhardt and ADAC General Legal Advisor Christian Reinicke were at Oschersleben for the opening weekend of the season.
New look for the grid girls: The ADAC GT Masters grid girls have a new outfit for Oschersleben provided by series partner kfzteile24. The market leader for car replacement parts and accessories entered into a sponsorship deal with the Super Sports Car League at the start of the 2017 season. They are not only kitting out the grid girls but also prominently displaying the kfzteile24 logo on the advertising boards around the host venues.
Visit from Australia: Two Australian visitors called in on the season opener at Oschersleben this weekend. Graham Sattler, Operations Manager of the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) and David Corrigan, Operations Manager of the Australian Formula 4 Championship, were on a fact-finding mission to see how the ADAC GT Masters events are organised.
The Class of 2017: The group photo of the ADAC GT Masters drivers on the opening weekend of the season at Oschersleben has become a traditional feature of the Super Sports Car League calendar. On Sunday morning, the drivers of the 28 super sports cars gathered together for the group photo with ADAC Sport President Hermann Tomczyk and ADAC Director Motorsport Thomas Voss.
All set for the ADAC Kart Academy: The new ADAC Kart Academy, which is aimed at total beginners and youngsters with limited experience, commences its debut season in Kerpen in four weeks' time (27th and 28th May). Fans at Oschersleben were able to take a close look at the kart that will be driven by the new generation of racers. The kart, which complies with the OK Junior class and will be standard for all ADAC Kart Academy contestants, was exhibited outside the ADAC hospitality suite. Further information on the ADAC Kart Academy is available at www.adac.de/motorsport.
Official cars courtesy of Audi Sport: On the opening weekend of the ADAC GT Masters at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Audi Sport handed over the keys of several new vehicles to the race management. These include two Audi R8 V10 plus models for use as 'leading car' and as 'safety car' respectively. In addition, the race management can avail itself of two Audi RS3 Sportbacks as well as an Audi TT RS, while the organisation team are able to use an A4 and an A6 Avant. Audi Sport has been 'Official Car Partner' to the ADAC GT Masters since 2011.
Premiere for a new grid formation: The Super Sports Car League has reverted to a grid formation that is better known from endurance racing. The super sports cars of the ADAC GT Masters were parked sideways on before setting off on the formation lap.
Racing legends in attendance: Two sports car champions and a record DTM championship winner were guests of honour for the ADAC GT Masters season opener at Oschersleben. Making his first appearance at an ADAC GT Masters event was reigning World Sports Car champion and Le Mans winner Marc Lieb, who has given up his active career as a racing driver to take on a role in Porsche customer sport. At Oschersleben, he met up with his Porsche LMP1 team-mate of 2016, Timo Bernhard, whose KÜS Team75 Bernhard registered their fifth ADAC GT Masters race win on Saturday. Bernd Schneider, who holds the record for DTM championship wins, was also in attendance at Oschersleben, where he joined Patrick Simon in the commentary box for live coverage of Saturday's race on SPORT1.
Unusual headgear: ADAC GT Masters returnee Maximilian Götz will be sporting his own unique helmet design this year. The helmet of the 2012 ADAC GT Masters champion, who has joined Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport, is eye-catching for its vivid colours. It shows his family, a LEGO-Batman and his hashtag #MAXimumATTACK. "On the back, is a picture of me with a screaming face," says Götz. "Even though it's not visible when I'm in the car, it's supposed to signal to the guys behind that they shouldn't get too close."