The fourth race weekend in the German GT Championship provided some fascinating fasts and stories. Take a look at the notebook from the Nürburgring.
One record after another
23,500 fans witnessed spectacular and exciting motorsport in the Eifel Mountains, were treated to action-packed support series, and set a new crowd record for the German GT Championship at the Nürburgring. This is the fourth crowd record in a row for the ADAC GT Masters.
Birthday in the “family”
It was not the roar of engines, but the sound of loud singing coming from the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport garage on Saturday morning. It was team principal Christian Land’s 42nd birthday, and the whole team had assembled to serenade him. This is a familiar scene for Land. “As a boy, when my father was still driving, I regularly used to celebrate my birthday at Circuit Zandvoort. If a race was cancelled, I was sad, because I thought that my birthday would also be cancelled. Since then, I have almost always had my birthday at some racetrack. It is nice, as our team is one big family.”
Raffaele Marciello breaks qualifying record
The leader at the halfway point of this season’s ADAC GT Masters arrived at the Nürburgring inspired by his victory at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, and immediately made a real statement of intent in the first qualifying session. Raffaele Marciello’s time of 1:25.544 minutes on Saturday was a new qualifying record. The Mercedes-AMG works driver beat Frank Stippler’s previous record, which had stood for four years, by almost 0.15 seconds.
The big 50
Jules Gounon celebrated his tenth victory in the ADAC GT Masters on Sunday. The Drago Racing Team ZVO driver has contested no fewer than 50 races in the German GT Championship. Maximilian Paul from Paul Motorsport reached the same number of starts in Sunday’s race.
Barren run comes to an end
Fifth place in race two at the Nürburgring was the best result of the season so far for Madpanda Motorsport. The Spanish team’s drivers Maximilian Götz and Ezequiel Perez Companc battled their way from 14th on the grid to finish in the top five. “I would like to thank the crew, who did a fantastic job all weekend, as well as Max, the engineers and, above all, our team manager, who has guided the team through the races like a champion over the past two weeks. We have taken another big step forward, and fifth place in race two is the perfect proof of our progress. We are looking forward to the Lausitzring,” said driver and team principal Companc.
Fightback and the lead
Hard-earned points for Schubert Motorsport in the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring. The team produced a huge effort to claim three points finishes with their two BMW M4 GT3 in the Eifel Mountains. BMW works drivers Jesse Krohn and Nicky Catsburg overtook eleven cars in Sunday’s race, and were rewarded with ninth place. The pairing of Ben Green and Niklas Krütten picked up points in both races and continues to lead the Pirelli Junior competition in the German GT Championship.
Back on track
Ronald Dobmeier has been at the wheel of the safety car in the ADAC GT Masters for a good ten years. This season, he had to wait six races for his first outing. The Audi R8, in the branding of series partner BWT, was not called upon at the season-opener at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the Red Bull Ring, or in the dunes of Zandvoort. At the Nürburgring, however, race control issued the command “Prepare the safety car” on three occasions. Dobmeier took to the track twice in Saturday’s race and once on Sunday.
