Nobody could touch Tim Zimmermann (Langenargen) in Free Practice in the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring on Friday. The Lamborghini driver from Grasser Racing Team set the fastest lap time of the day in FP2, stopping the clock at 1:26.021 minutes. “It is looking very good for us at the moment. I am already looking forward to the Saturday race, which should be very exciting due to the new endurance format. We definitely want to push hard to secure pole and get our first win of the season,” said Zimmermann, who this year shares the driving duties with Chile’s Benjamin Hites.
With temperatures around 18 degrees Celsius, the ADAC GT Masters drivers headed onto the sprint variant of the Nürburgring for two practice sessions on Friday. The opening session saw guest starter Julian Hanses (Düsseldorf) from Schnitzelalm Racing set the best time of 1:27.152 minutes in his Mercedes-AMG GT3. He was visibly thrilled after his successful debut: “I am very happy with my performance. I still have to get used to the high quality of the field, but it was definitely a super start to life in the ADAC GT Masters.”
In the second Free Practice, it was 27-year-old Zimmermann who set the benchmark. He went 0.237 seconds faster than second-placed Jannes Fittje (Langenhain) in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by Haupt Racing Team. Third place went to Marcel Marchewicz (Schwetzingen), who lines up alongside team-mate Hanses. Fourth fastest were Leon Köhler (Erlenbach am Main) and Maxime Oosten (NL) in an FK Performance BMW M4 GT3, ahead of the Haupt Racing Team duo of Max Reis (Ramstein) and South African Kwanda Mokoena in another Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The drivers kick off the first day of racing with the opening qualifying session at 09:35 on Saturday morning. Qualifying can be seen in a free livestream at adac.de/motorsport and on the YouTube channel @adacmotorsports. From 15:00, there will then be a premiere in the ADAC GT Masters: for the first time in the history of the iconic GT3 series, spectators can look forward to an 80-minute endurance race. That gives the drivers an extra 20 minutes to ensure the crowds in the grandstands are treated to an exciting fifth race of the season. The right tactics will be invaluable here, as each car must make two mandatory pit stops, including one tyre change. The ADAC GT Masters is being broadcast live on television by free-to-air station Sport1. Commentator Peter Kohl gets coverage from the Nürburgring underway at 14:45.
