ADAC GT Masters·2.2.2017

Precote Herberth Motorsport with new drivers: Renauer and Müller will drive a Porsche 911

Precote Herberth Motorsport have an ambitious goal in mind as they tackle the 2017 ADAC GT Masters. Led by team boss Alfred Renauer, the outfit is aiming to win the Supersports Car League title. Regular driver Robert Renauer (31, DEU) and series newcomer Sven Müller (24, DEU) will drive the tried and tested Porsche 911. The ADAC GT Masters kicks off the season on the weekend of 28th - 30th April in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. SPORT1 will broadcast all races live and in full on free-to-air TV.

"There was never any doubt as to whether we would enrol again for the 2017 ADAC GT Masters season," said Alfred Renauer. "The series has been an integral part of our motor racing programme for many years. The ADAC GT Masters affords our sponsors a good marketing platform and, from a racing point of view, it attracts many of the world's best GT3 drivers. Basically, it was already clear back in November 2016 that we were again going to take part. We also sorted out who would be driving very quickly."

As renowned Porsche specialists, Herberth Motorsport will field the current model of the Porsche 911 which raced for the first time in GT3 last year. Alfred Renauer: "We were generally very satisfied with the car. We've won several long distance races with it in the past few months and also had a good showing in the ADAC GT Masters."

The familiar figure of Robert Renauer will be in the cockpit of the Herberth Porsche. This will be his fourth time lining up in the ADAC GT Masters for his brother's racing team. Finishing second overall in 2013, he missed the title win by the shortest of margins. He and team-mate Martin Ragginger (28, A) placed fifth in the rankings last year. Herberth Motorsport, along with Robert Renauer and team-mates, showed excellent early form to start 2017 by winning the 24-Hours of Dubai in mid January. Is that a good indicator of how they're going to perform in the upcoming ADAC GT Masters season? "We're definitely aiming to be championship contenders," said Robert Renauer. "We achieved decent results in 2016, including two victories. Unfortunately, there were a few races where we came away without any points. We can certainly be in with a good chance if we can avoid retirements."

Sven Müller will be Robert Renauer's new team-mate. The Porsche works driver is a graduate of the ADAC's junior formula series and contested the Formel ADAC in 2010 and 2011. He finished third behind current Formula 1 driver Pascal Wehrlein and Emil Bernstorff in his second year. There then followed three years in the Formula 3 Euro Series before being accepted on the junior programme at Porsche. In 2016, he secured both overall victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and in the Porsche Supercup and was made an official works driver at the end of last year in view of his strong showing. Müller will be making his debut in the ADAC GT Masters in 2017.

"I'm really looking forward to the upcoming season. I think that the ADAC GT Masters is one of the strongest GT3 series in the world," said Müller. "Apart from that, at Herberth Motorsport, I'll be back with my old engineer, with whom I achieved a lot of success in Porsche one-make cups."

Herberth Motorsport have plenty to do before the 2017 ADAC GT Masters season gets under way. Alfred Renauer: "We'll have finished preparing the car by the beginning of February. We'll spend a week testing in Portimão in mid-February, and further tests are scheduled for Mugello and Barcelona, and then it will almost be time for the official ADAC GT Masters pre season tests."