The organisers of the ADAC GT Masters are already planning ahead for 2021. The GT series enters its 15th season next year, and the 14 races will once again be contested over seven race weekends at venues in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. For the first time, the ADAC GT Masters championship will gain official recognition from the German Motor Sport Association (DMSB): the series will henceforth assume the status of ‘Internationale Deutsche GT-Meisterschaft’ (International German GT Championship), and the drivers and teams will compete for the title of International German GT Champion. The curtain-raiser to the 2021 ADAC GT Masters will be hosted by Motorsport Arena Oschersleben on the weekend of 14th - 16th May.
“We are further enhancing the reputation of the ADAC GT Masters by making it synonymous with the German GT Championship,” says ADAC Motorsport Director Thomas Voss. “By publishing the calendar early, we are ensuring a high degree of planning assurance for our participants. In spring of this year, we gave clear backing to our teams by staging all seven planned events despite the uncertain times we are living through, and that is certainly one reason for the strong field in the ADAC GT Masters this year. To ensure that this remains the case in the future, we ran a highly constructive workshop on the future of the ADAC GT Masters last week for our teams and for representatives of the manufacturers who run GT3 Customer Sport programmes.”
Dr Hans-Gerd Ennser, who is responsible for automobile sport on the DMSB executive board, explains further: “With the inauguration of the International German GT Championship, the DMSB has acknowledged the successful work done by the ADAC in recent years, showing how important it is for a GT series to be professionally organised in order to achieve long-term success.” The precise details on classification and scoring for the newly created championship have not yet been determined and will be worked out in the coming months.
In terms of calendar planning for the coming year, the ADAC GT Masters will focus more on Germany. In addition to five race weekends on German tracks, two foreign race weekends are planned. The ADAC GT Masters will incorporate all official regulations on Covid 19 prevention into its arrangements for next year’s programme and, as a precaution, will start the new season later than usual. After the opening weekend at Oschersleben in mid-May, the second fixture is scheduled for 11th - 13th June at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. There will then be a summer break timed to coincide with the European Football Championship and the Olympic Games, after which the season will resume at the Nürburgring (6th - 8th August), followed by the third Formula 1-standard circuit in a row 14 days later, namely Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
The DEKRA Lausitzring will be back on the calendar to host the fifth race weekend (10th - 12th September). The penultimate race weekend at the Sachsenring will coincide with the national holiday to commemorate German reunification (1st - 3rd October). The grand finale will take place at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg on the weekend of 15th - 17th October.
Calendar for the 2021 ADAC GT Masters (subject to confirmation)
14/05/21 - 16/05/2021: Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
11/06/21 - 13/06/2021: Red Bull Ring / A
06/08/21 - 08/08/2021: Nürburgring
20/08/21 - 22/08/2021: Circuit Zandvoort / NL
10/09/21 - 12/09/2021: Lausitzring
01/10/21 - 03/10/2021: Sachsenring
15/10/21 - 17/10/2021: Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg