Finn Wiebelhaus (Obertshausen/Haupt Racing Team) backed up his recent strong performance at the Red Bull Ring in the two free practice sessions in the ADAC GT Masters at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, setting the fastest time of the day in the opening session in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. “It is always good to start the weekend with a fast lap. It gives you confidence for the rest of the event,” said Wiebelhaus after FP1.
Dry conditions greeted the ADAC GT Masters drivers when they took to the track for the first free practice on Friday morning. The lead changed hands on several occasions during the 45-minute session, which provided plenty of entertainment for the spectators. Shortly before the end of the session, with track conditions improving at the 4.574-kilometre circuit, 18-year-old Wiebelhaus recorded the fastest lap time. The driver from Hessen stopped the clock at 1:38.393 minutes. Championship leader Elias Seppänen (FIN/Landgraf Motorsport), in a Mercedes-AMG for Landgraf Motorsport, was second fastest, 0.178 seconds slower than Wiebelhaus. His closest rivals in the title race, Maxime Oosten (NL) and Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main) in an FK Performance BMW M4 GT3, could do no better than twelfth place.
In FP2, it was the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Johannes Kapfinger (Passau) that led the way with a lap time of 1:46.336 minutes. However, consistently damp conditions meant he was unable to threaten Wiebelhaus’s time. Third place in the combined standings, which include both free practices, went to Switzerland’s Alexander Fach from Fach Auto Tech in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of the second Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Haupt Racing Team with David Schumacher (Salzburg) at the wheel. In fifth place was Marcel Marchewicz (Schwetzingen) from Schnitzelalm Racing in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.
From 09:00 on Saturday morning, the drivers in the ADAC GT Masters will set their course for race eleven of the season in the first qualifying session. The protagonists will have 20 minutes to push themselves to the limit, as they strive to secure pole position for the opening race, which gets underway at 15:15. Both sessions will be streamed live and free of charge, with German and English commentary, on the ADAC Motorsport YouTube channel at youtube.com/@ADACMotorsports. Television partner Sport1 will broadcast the race at the circuit near Mannheim live on free-to-air German TV, with coverage starting at 15:00.
