The ADAC GT Masters is entering the home straight at the Sachsenring this weekend (September 23rd to 25th).
The penultimate stop of the tour in the German GT Championship, which this year uses renewable fuel, requires nerves of steel from teams and drivers.
The leaders are close together, every point counts, every mistake can mean the premature end of all title dreams. Ideal conditions for an exciting race weekend on the demanding course in Saxony, which Germany’s fastest GT3 series even laps faster than the motorcycle aces of the MotoGP.
There will also be a premiere at the Sachsenring: The FIA ETCR eTouring World Cup will start in Germany for the first time and determine the first electric touring car world champion in motorsport history at the World Championship finale at the Sachsenring. All the action from the ADAC GT Masters will be live on NITRO this weekend.
The exclusive TV partner of the German GT Championship will broadcast races eleven and twelve live on Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 p.m.
Key facts, Sachsenring, Hohenstein-Ernstthal, rounds 11 and 12 of 14 races of the season
track length: 3,645 meters
Layout: 14 turns (four right-handers, ten left-handers), drive counter-clockwise
Winner 2021, race 1: Mathieu Jaminet/Michael Ammermüller (SSR Performance, Porsche 911 GT3 R)
Winner 2021, race 2: Igor Jakob Walilko/Jules Gounon (Team Zakspeed Mobil Krankenkasse Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo)
The top three are watching each other
Front-runner Raffaele Marciello (27, CH) has the best chances in the fight for the title.
The Mercedes-AMG is traditionally strong on the roller coaster in Saxony. For Marciello, it’s all about extending his lead in the standings before the finale in Saxony, after losing his lead at the Lausitzring last time. Christian Engelhart (35/Starnberg) and Ayhancan Güven (24/TR) from the Joos Sportwagentechnik team are ten points behind championship leader Marciello.
The driver duo clinched their first win of the season in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R in Lausitz and want to keep putting pressure on the leaders. “Our tactics will be the same as always, another one doesn’t work in the ADAC GT Masters either: full attack in qualifying to get a good starting position. However, at the Sachsenring in the past it has been shown that in the second half of the race due to tire degradation large shifts are possible, although overtaking is difficult. You have to be well prepared for qualifying and the race,” explains Christian Engelhart.
He relies fully on his strong driver colleagues. “As a newcomer, Ayhancan quickly settled into the ADAC GT Masters and is doing a sensational job. He did a number of top qualifying sessions and doesn’t allow himself any mistakes in the race. It’s a pleasure to drive with him. We want more points at the Sachsenring than the competition to have a strong starting position at the finale in Hockenheim,” said the 2020 champion.
Jack Aitken (26/GB) and Albert Costa Balboa (32/E) have also been among the championship contenders since their strong performances at the Lausitzring. With two second places in races nine and ten, the driver combination in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo with starting number 63 from Emil Frey Racing has moved up to third place in the table and is therefore also one of the favorites at the Sachsenring.
Team Paul Motorsport wants more
After the stop in Lausitz, the Paul Motorsport team from Dresden has their second home game in the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring, even if the journey is a bit longer. “It’s mega when the track is around the corner for the second time in a row.
The logistics are simpler, you can approach the preparations in a more relaxed manner, you don’t have to leave a few days earlier, you just get in the car and you’re there,” says Maximilian Paul (22/Dresden), describing the amenities at a home game Building on successes from the Lausitzring, where Maximilian Paul and his colleague Marco Mapelli (35/I) finished third and fifth in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #71 and the young man from Dresden won the Pirelli Junior classification.
“I like the Sachsenring. It’s a motorcycle circuit with a lot of fast passages and up on the crest you can gain a lot of time, but you can also lose a lot of time. Last year I rode there with Marco for the first time and I learned a lot from him. After our first podium of the season at the Lausitzring, the team is hungry for more. We want to win a race or be among the front runners,” the local hero clarifies.
German premiere and finale for electric touring cars
As part of the ADAC GT Masters, the FIA ETCR eTouring Car World Cup will be held at the Sachsenring for the first time in Germany. The German premiere is also the finale of the innovative racing series in which, among others, FIA World Rallycross Champion Mattias Ekström or the two former ADAC GT Masters drivers Bruno Spengler and Maxime Martin compete in the vehicles with up to 680 hp.
In addition to the e-bolides, three other spectacular racing series will start at the Sachsenring as part of the supporting program of the German GT Championship. In the ADAC GT4 Germany and the ADAC TCR Germany, the drivers want to create a good starting point for the finale in Hockenheim. The same applies to the drivers of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, who are holding rounds 13 and 14 of a total of 16 races this season at the Sachsenring.
All 14 races in the ADAC GT Masters will start at 1 p.m. The TV channel NITRO will present the races live from 12:30 p.m. The racing action can be followed live on RTL+, Germany’s leading streaming platform, or accessed afterwards in the media library. The qualifying sessions can be viewed at sport.de and adac.de/motorsport.
Dates ADAC GT Masters 2022, subject to change:
April 22-24, 2022: Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
20.05.-22.05.2022: Red Bull Ring / A
24.06.-26.06.2022: CM.com Circuit Zandvoort / NL
05.08.-07.08.2022: Nürburgring
19.08.-21.08.2022: Family & Friends Festival DEKRA Lausitzring
23.09.-25.09.2022: Sachsenring
21.10.-23.10.2022: Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg