Paddock radar from the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring

Bob driver Francesco Friedrich sets the field in motion. Fuel cells charge the e-cars in the FIA ETCR eTouring World Cup. ADAC Sachsen e. V. takes the wheel of ADAC Deutschland Klassik.

Olympic gold medallist and record world champion gives the command

Francesco “Franz” Friedrich is the most successful bob driver in the world. His racetracks are the ice channels of this world, in which the local favourite from BSC Sachsen Oberbärenburg has been crowned Olympic champion four times in the two-man and four-man bob, and has won the world championship on eleven occasions. On Saturday, the car fan paid the ADAC GT Masters a visit at the Sachsenring as a guest of the herrenausstatter.de “Club of Champions”, and took the opportunity to take a closer look at the super sports cars. Ahead of Saturday’s race, the Federal police officer got the drivers moving with the sign “Drivers start your engines”.

Sustainable fuel and power from fuel cells

This season, the ADAC GT Masters is using the sustainable fuel “Blue Gasoline 98 GT Masters”, which consists of roughly 50 percent renewable components. The FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup does not use any fossil fuels at all. The fully-electric series held the finale of its world championship on the support programme for the German GT Championship at the Sachsenring. As well as exciting races, the series also demonstrated that it is possible to run 680-hp electric race cars with green and zero-emission energy. After each outing, the cars pulled into the “Energy Station”, where their batteries were almost completely recharged from CCS2 chargers with a capacity of 62 kw/h in just one hour. The energy required for this recharging comes from hydrogen fuel cells, which neither require local electricity nor emit CO2. All the charging process required was water.

Hydrogen fuel cells provided zero-emission energy for the electric cars in the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup © Photo: ADAC

ADAC GT Masters meets FIA ETCR eTouring World Cup

The FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup held the final round of its world championship as part of the German GT Championship race weekend at the Sachsenring. This was a good enough reason for ADAC GT Masters driver Jack Aitken to check out the electric cars. Mattias Ekström, one of the top drivers in the fully-electric racing series and FIA World Rallycross Champion, explained the intricacies of his car, which accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.7 seconds. Lamborghini driver Aitken took his place at the wheel of the e-car and was impressed by the innovative technology. Mattias Ekström then gave the order for the ADAC GT Masters drivers to start their engines on Sunday.

Jack Aitken and Mattias Ekström in the paddock of the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup © Photo: ADAC

Maiden victory in the ADAC GT Masters

Maximilian Paul (22) claimed his first win in the ADAC GT Masters on Thursday. However, this victory did not come at his home circuit at the Sachsenring, but in Arena E in Mülsen, a modern kart track not far from the Sachsenring. The man from Dresden not only held the media representatives in check during an indoor e-kart race on Thursday evening, but also ADAC GT Masters drivers Mick Wishofer and Jan Marschalkowski. Lamborghini driver Paul ended the event with a pole position, fastest lap and a dominant victory ahead of fellow Lamborghini man Mick Wishofer to his name. Marschalkowski was fourth. Paul: “It was a lot of fun, but winning at the racetrack is much better.”

ADAC Motorsport Director Thomas Voss with Maximilian Paul, Mick Wishofer and Jan Marschalkowski © Photo: ADAC

Fastest GT3 series in Germany trumps motorcycles

Raffaele Marciello set a new qualifying record of 1:17.878 minutes at the Sachsenring on Saturday. Fabian Schiller also broke the 1:18-minute barrier. In comparison, Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia set a new lap record of 1:19.765 minutes during the Motorcycle Grand Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring in June. That made the motorcycle ace almost two seconds slower than the fastest drivers in the fastest GT3 series in Germany.

Raffaele Marciello set a new qualifying record of 1:17.878 minutes at the Sachsenring © Photo: ADAC

ADAC Sachsen e.V. to take the wheel of ADAC Deutschland Klassik next year

Since 2010, ADAC Deutschland Klassik has taken participants to the most beautiful regions of Germany. Next year, Saxony will host this iconic event. From 24th to 27th May 2023, the vintage car tour will take place around Dresden. Participants can discover the highlights of the region. Art, culture and plenty of history await at the roadside. ADAC Motorsport Director Thomas Voss symbolically presented the chairman of ADAC Sachsen e. V., Klaus Klötzner, with a steering wheel at the Sachsenring, symbolising that he will take the wheel of the ADAC Deutschland Klassik in 2023.