It's early April, and normally at this point, drivers and teams are in the middle of preparing for the upcoming ADAC GT Masters season. In point of fact, test outings, fitness training, pit stop practice should now be top of the agenda, but everything is different this year because of the Corona crisis currently in progress. And that is obviously also affecting Maximilian Götz, who will again be sharing the drive this year in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Indy Dontje at HTP Winward Motorsport. "I'm still trying to do as much as possible to be well prepared," said the 2012 champion. "I do my fitness training and practise a lot on the simulator. I also speak regularly with colleagues and partners, with the team and Mercedes AMG. But I'm also doing things that I don't usually have much time for, because I now have plenty of spare time to spend with my family or sort through photos on my laptop and do a spot of spring-cleaning."

As he told us, 34-year-old Götz is aiming to be a top title contender again once the season finally restarts: "That's definitely the goal. We finished third in 2019 and missed second place by only one point. Things should be even better now, but of course, there are always many other factors in the mix and the competition in the ADAC GT Masters gets stronger with every year that passes." He is very pleased to be sharing a car again with Dutchman Indy Dontje. "Indy is a top guy. I get on really well with him. We're on the same wavelength. He's like lightning out on track, but you know what I think is best about him, he makes very few mistakes - so you can see why I'm always keen to go work with him!"

Mercedes-AMG have updated Götz/Dontje's car with an Evo kit for this year. Götz: "I'm already very familiar with the latest model GT3, as I was involved in its development and have driven it for quite a few kilometres. I even raced it in the VLN towards the end of 2019 and in this year's 12 Hours of Bathurst where we finished third. It drives a little bit differently, but what's paramount as regards the car's ongoing development is that we've eliminated weaknesses and have got the drop on the competition. It's definitely a looker, and the front end with its large cooling slots and air gills really stands out."

However, the fact that testing is currently not allowed will not make the switch to the new car any easier. Götz: "The set-up is completely different and the Pirelli tyres are also new, which is why some testing would have been a help. Usually, a team always needs a bit of time before they can properly get to grips with a new car, so it could take a while at the start of the season until we're sorted and out in front."

Götz's team, HTP Motorsport, are working closely with American outfit, Winward Racing, this year, so he's hoping they can achieve some degree of synergy. Götz: "Our crew in the ADAC GT Masters remains unchanged to all intents and purposes, but Christian Hohenadel has joined as one of the top managers. I've known him for quite some time now and have even contested a few races with him. He's very experienced and should bring fresh impetus to the squad. Our engineers will also be running GT3s in American races, so we'll have even more data at our disposal and that will certainly be a big bonus for us."