The first race weekend of the German GT Championship provided some fascinating figures and stories. Take a look at the Oschersleben notebook.

Promising start

The youngest driver in the ADAC GT Masters field was debutant Hugo Sasse, who has made the step up from ADAC GT4 Germany. The 17-year-old local boy from Aschersleben finished in the points for the first time in race two. “This is obviously a big step,” said the ADAC Stiftung Sport driver. “One year ago today, we had not even considered it and wanted to continue karting. Now I am sat in a Lamborghini super sports car. That was an exciting weekend for us. We all learned an awful lot and can be happy. We were the best-placed Lamborghini in Sunday’s race, which is a superb effort. Had we switched to slicks at the pit stop, we could actually have done even better.”

Debut win

Mann-Filter Team Landgraf – HTP/WWR enjoyed an impressive debut in the German GT Championship. After Raffaele Marciello’s pole position in the first qualifying session, the Italian and his team-mate Maximilian Buhk went on to win the subsequent race at the first attempt – and in dominant fashion, leading from start to finish. The team from Gensingen is not the only to have enjoyed success on its debut in Oschersleben: a-workx (2010), Engstler Motorsport (2011), Schütz Motorsport (2012), Prosperia C. Abt Racing (2013) and Schnitzer Motorsport (2017) all claimed their maiden ADAC GT Masters victory in the Magdeburg Börde.

Highs and lows

Lamborghini works drivers Mirko Bortolotti and Albert Costa Balboa kicked off the new season with an impressive second place on Saturday. The #63 GRT-Grasser Huracán was well-placed towards the front of the field again in race two until Costa Balboa collided with the Landgraf Mercedes-AMG. Race control subsequently handed the pair a five-place penalty for Saturday’s race at the Red Bull Ring. “Saturday’s podium finish was a good start, but I am very disappointed with the second race,” said Costa Balboa. “After a good start I became involved in a battle and fell back. I was then faster than the car ahead of me and started an overtaking manoeuvre that had previously worked well against another rival. Unfortunately, I got it wrong and made a mistake. I am very sorry for Mirko and the team, and really cross with myself. We want to challenge for the title this year, and we will not win if we make mistakes like that.”

Class battle

Audi drivers Florian Spengler (Car Collection Motorsport) and Elia Erhart (Rutronik Racing by Tece) top the table in the Pirelli Trophy competition with 37.5 points. They both picked up one class win and ended the other race outside the points. In the Pirelli Junior classification, Austrian Porsche driver Mick Wishofer (MRS GT-Racing) leads the way after the opening race weekend.

A barren run comes to an end

Maximilian Hackländer was delighted with his third place in the Sunday race. This was the first podium since 2017 at the Red Bull Ring for the newcomer to the MRS GT-Racing team. Together with partner Mick Wishofer, the 31-year-old fought back from 18th place on the grid to end race two on the podium.

Mixed results for last year’s champions

While SSR Performance driver Michael Ammermüller launched his title defence with a victory on Sunday that sees him top the table after the opening weekend, his partner from last year, Christian Engelhart, and his new employers Küs Team Bernhard did not have an ideal start to the season. A mistake on Saturday resulted in a damaged splitter and no points. In race two, the Bavarian and his new team-mate Thomas Preining did find themselves in third place at one point, but an unfortunate tyre strategy meant they eventually had to settle for eighth place.

Strong weekend

Christopher Mies and Ricardo Feller made a successful start to the season in Oschersleben. On Saturday, the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport drivers finished third, earning Feller victory in the Pirelli Junior competition. Despite a drive-through penalty, they managed to finish fifth on Sunday. “Without the penalty, we would have been at least second,” said a confident Mies after the race. Feller also set the fastest lap of the race to underline the Audi duo’s pace.

Top rookie

Cologne’s Yusuf Owega was the best-placed ADAC GT Masters newcomer in Oschersleben. The 19-year-old, at the wheel of the Phoenix Audi R8 LMS, qualified tenth on Saturday before finishing in the same position alongside his partner Patric Niederhauser. “That was Jusuf’s very first race weekend in the ADAC GT Masters,” said team principal Ernst Moser. “Considering that, he performed impressively and gave us a taste of what we can expect from him this season.”

Two top-ten finishes

Team Joos Sportwagentechnik can look back positively on the opening weekend. David Jahn and Marco Holzer finished eighth in race one in their Porsche 911 GT3 R, and then added a tenth place on Sunday. “That was almost more than we were hoping for,” said team principal Michael Joos. “After the fastest time in free practice on Friday, it was clear to us that the other teams would up their game. We were hoping to qualify in the top ten, and actually ended up starting from second place on the grid on Saturday. Who knows what might have been possible in race two. We took a bit of a chance. But two top-ten finishes is more than a good start.”

Nordschleife contingent

Audi Sport customer racing will be counting on drivers and teams from the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The three works-assisted R8 LMS will be run by Car Collection Motorsport, Land Motorsport and Phoenix Racing. The driver line-up includes five drivers from the German GT Championship: Christopher Haase, Christopher Mies, Patric Niederhauser, Dries Vanthoor and Markus Winkelhock. Phoenix and Car Collection will also field additional private R8s. At the wheel of one will be ADAC GT Masters driver Dennis Marschall.

Comprehensive coverage

ADAC GT Masters TV partner, NITRO, will be working flat-out again at the 24-hour race: the station will broadcast the racing spectacle for the sixth time. From 14:45 on Saturday 5th June to 16:15 on Sunday 6th June, NITRO will report from the race for more than 25 hours in an extraordinary non-stop, live broadcast. NITRO will also remain the home of the Eifel classic in the future: the station is the official TV partner for the next three years.

On the up

After just one guest appearance in 2020, Yaco Racing is a permanent fixture in this season’s ADAC GT Masters. While the first race in Oschersleben yielded a disappointing 22nd place, Norbert Siedler and Simon Reicher finished eleventh on Sunday to score the first points for the team from Plauen – and they did so by fighting back from 24th place on the grid. They could have been looking at an even better result had it not been for a failed pit stop and a drive-through penalty, which cost them around 40 seconds in total. “Yes, we have a lot to learn and yes, we were hoping for more this weekend,” said Siedler. “However, the second race went really well. We must now do our homework, dismantle the car again at our headquarters, check everything out, and reassemble it to ensure we are more competitive at the Red Bull Ring than we were in the Magdeburg Börde. If we have a car with a top set-up by the end of the season, then a top-ten result should also be possible.”

Team spirit

When Sebastian Asch crashed in the second qualifying session, it did not look as though Aust Motorsport would be able to line up in the Sunday race. However, after briefly taking stock, the entire team set to work and had the Audi R8 LMS ready for action in time for the start of the race. Even motorsport legend Roland Asch picked up a hammer and tape and helped to get his son’s car up and running. “That is real team spirit,” said team principal Frank Aust. “After an impact like that, most teams would not have been able to get their car running in time for the race. It was also very important for Sebastian to get back behind the wheel quickly.” After starting from the pit lane, Asch and his partner Daniel Keilwitz only narrowly missed out on a points finish.

No racing luck

Callaway Competition travelled to Oschersleben on the back of virtually no pre-season preparations. Having picked up their first points in the Saturday race, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Jeffrey Schmidt caught the eye with fourth place in the second qualifying session in their Corvette C7 GT3 R. However, the subsequent race did not go to plan: Kirchhöfer was forced to retire on the first lap after a collision that was no fault of his own. “The weekend is obviously difficult to stomach,” said the Leipzig-born driver. “However, I will take the positives from it. We improved consistently from Thursday to Sunday and made good progress. I feel sorry for the team, as it worked so hard for no reward. They deserved to be successful.”