ADAC series: Strong Swiss faction 🎥
SEASON START The ADAC GT Masters, the TCR Germany, the new GT4 Germany and the ADAC Formula 4 all get underway at Oschersleben this weekend, with Switzerland strongly represented everywhere. 19 teams with GT3 sports cars from Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche will compete in the first two races of the season at Oschersleben. That the power density [...]
19 teams with GT3 sports cars from Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche will compete in the first two races of the season at Oschersleben. The pre-season test already indicated that the performance density in the ADAC GT Masters will again be high: With Audi, Porsche, Corvette and Ferrari, four of the eight brands represented managed at least one best time in the six test sessions.
Unpredictable starting position
A look at the list of winners at the track near Magdeburg also shows how difficult it is to make a forecast for the season opener: in the past eight races, vehicles from seven different manufacturers have been ahead there. A year ago, the car competing under Swiss license for the first time in 2019 celebrated its Philip Ellis his only victory to date at the first attempt. The driver from Zug with British-German roots switched from Phoenix-Audi to a yellow Mercedes-AMG from HTP-Motorsport, where he has a prominent team partner in Fabian Vettel - the brother of the four-time F1 world champion.
Feller and Niederhauser aim for first wins
Teammates on two different Audi R8 LMS at BWT Mücke Motorsport are Jeffrey Schmidt (with works driver Christopher Haase) and Nikolai Rogivue (with Stefan Mücke). An identical 2019 model now drives Ricardo Feller no longer with the Berliners, but with last year's runner-up team Land Motosport. With the Belgian Dries Vanthoor as a fast teammate, the first victory for the Aargau native, who is just 18 years old, is only a matter of time. Schmidt achieved this in Brno in 2018, and if the Audi is well classified in terms of BoP, the driver from Liestal is also a title candidate.
With former champion Kevin van der Linde from South Africa as partner on the Audi of HCB-Rutronik Racing, also Patric Niederhauser the best prerequisites for landing the first bull's eye in the ADAC GT Masters after numerous successes in other racing series. Rolf Ineichen knows this feeling - with three wins so far on a Lamborghini Huracan from Grasser Racing and Christian Engelhart (D) as his teammate, the Lucerne native is the most successful Swiss in the ADAC GT Masters at present. Ineichen's new partner this year is Frenchman Franck Perera.
GT3, on the other hand, is new territory for the Lausanne-based Hugo de Sadeleer, driving with a Frenchman on one of the two new Aston Martin Vantage from PROpeak Performance. For Remo Lips on the other hand, will be competing in an Audi from Aust Motorsport to win the Pirelli Trophy classification for purely private drivers, which the man from Zurich already managed in 2016 and 2018.
Hofor Racing changes the stomping ground
In the newly launched ADAC GT4 Germany, the Florian Thoma (Aston Martin Vantage), Nico Rindlisbacher (Audi R8 LMS) and Alain Valente (McLaren 570S) have good prospects in terms of material and teams. Unlike in the GT Masters, however, they are even more dependent on the performance of their teammates.
In this respect Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport is optimally positioned with its two new BMW M4 GT4s. Michael Schrey (D)/Thomas Jäger (A) and professional Claudia Hürtgen (D) with Michael Fischer (A) are very strong due to their experience. In 2018, the Swiss-German team with initiator Martin Kroll won the 24H Series.
Analogous to the successful format of the ADAC GT Masters, the ADAC GT4 Germany will also complete two one-hour runs per race weekend with driver changes between the 25th and 35th minute.
Two strong juniors in TCR and Formula 4
In the ADAC TCR Germany, as reported, only TOPCAR sport with his two Cupra from Young Driver 2018 Julien Apothéloz and Joshua C. Reynolds will fly the Swiss flag high. Apothéloz (18) is not only targeting the lucrative junior classification, but also a top-5 finish in the overall championship standings.
In the field of Formula 4 race cars, finally Grégoire Saucy the only country representative. The driver from Neuchâtel impressed with best times in the tests, but now has to prove in the races that he can convert the speed. In 2018, he failed to do so with Jenzer Motorsport in Italy.
Live on TV and Internet
All ADAC races will be broadcast live for the most part on the free-to-air channel SPORT1, as well as on the Internet on the ADAC Motorsport homepage and on youtube.com/adac.
