Close fight at the top: Who will be the ADAC GT Masters half-time champion?

02.08.2022

For almost six weeks, spectators and fans had to do without the racing action in the ADAC GT Masters. This weekend marks the end of the "summer break" in the German GT Championship. The supercars continue the season at the fourth tour stop at the Nürburgring with races seven and eight. After Saturday's race on the Eifel circuit, the mid-season champion in the ADAC GT Masters has been decided. Given the balance of the field, many drivers can justifiably hope for this unofficial title. The second half of the season opens on Sunday at the legendary Nürburgring with the eighth of a total of 14 races. TV partner NITRO will broadcast the ADAC GT Masters races live on Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 p.m. onwards.

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Key facts, Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rounds 7 and 8 of 14 races of the season

  • Circuit length: 3,629 meters
  • Layout: eleven corners (seven right-hand, four left-hand), driven clockwise
  • Winner 2021, race 1: Ricardo Feller/Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS Evo)
  • Winner 2021, race 2: Michael Ammermüller/Mathieu Jaminet (SSR Performance, Porsche 911 GT3 R)

Everything open at the top
Three drivers are tied for first place with 70 points after six rounds. The leader of the standings is Jusuf Owega (20/Cologne) in the #29 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II from Team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. The decisive factor is that, unlike his two strongest rivals, the young Cologne native already has one victory to his credit together with Ricardo Feller (22/CH), who sat out a race weekend. "It's incredibly tight in the ADAC GT Masters, not only at the front but throughout the field. Every point counts. Of course, it would be a good basis to start the second half of the season in first place. But the crucial thing is who's in front at the end. Then nobody will ask about the mid-point championship," explains the Audi driver. 

His pursuers Christian Engelhart (35/Starnberg) and Ayhancan Güven (24/TR) in the number 91 Porsche 911 GT3 R were already leading the standings shortly before the end of the second race at Zandvoort before a technical defect set them back. At the Nürburgring, the crew from Team Joos Sportwagentechnik is not only aiming to take the lead, but also to score its first win of the season. The youngster duo of Niklas Krütten (19/Trier) and Ben Green (24/GB) have been at the top of the podium twice this season in Team Schubert Motorsport's #10 BMW M4 GT3 and are third overall. Niklas Krütten: "We have to avoid mistakes, especially in qualifying, because they are difficult to correct in the race given the balance of the field. If we get everything perfect, we can be among the front runners." The Emil Frey Racing team is in a lurking position after its double success at Zandvoort. Sunday's winners Jack Aitken (26/GB) and Albert Costa Balboa (32/E) have moved up to fourth in the standings with the #63 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo, with brand colleagues Franck Perera (38/F) and Arthur Rougier (22/F) following in sixth. The combination of Mick Wishofer (22/A) and Konsta Lappalainen (20/FIN) has moved up to second in the Junior standings after winning on Saturday. "The Lamborghini works well at the Nürburgring. We are confident and want to achieve two consistently good results to stay up in the Junior standings," promises Mick Wishofer.

In addition, fans are also looking forward to seeing the freshly crowned winners of the legendary 24-hour classic at Spa-Francorchamps. The three ADAC GT Masters drivers Jules Gounon (27/F), Daniel Juncadella (31/E) and Raffaele Marciello (27/I) won the race in Belgium in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo and are also looking to build on their strong performance in the ADAC GT Masters with their teams.

Local heroes eagerly await home race
Seven drivers are looking forward to their home race in the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring. The shortest journey is made by Meuspath Audi driver Kim-Lius Schramm (25) from Team Rutronik Racing. The double winner from Spielberg, Niklas Krütten (19), comes from Trier and starts for Schubert Motorsport in a BMW M4 GT3. The two brothers Salman (17) and Yusuf (20) Owega live in Cologne and both start for the Audi team Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, but in different cars. Mercedes-Benz driver Fabian Schiller (25) lives in Troisdorf and Joel Sturm (20), who competes for Allied Racing in a Porsche, in Brühl. Christopher Mies has the best memories of the Nürburgring. The current champion from Düsseldorf secured the ADAC GT Masters championship at last season's finale in the Eifel and starts with a special tailwind after becoming a father last week.

Total motorsport
In the supporting program of the ADAC GT Masters, four more spectacular racing series will be on the grid at the Nürburgring. In the ADAC GT4 Germany, fans can look forward to exciting duels between the "smaller" GT sports cars. Hard-hitting touring car action is offered by the ADAC TCR Germany, while in the ADAC Formula 4 junior series the motorsport stars of tomorrow battle for victories, placings and points. The tradition-steeped Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland has electrified spectators for years with fast-paced sprint races, merciless duels and fascinating overtaking maneuvers. All visitors should make a note of the pitwalk on Saturday at 10:45 a.m. and on Sunday at 10:35 a.m. as well as the "Meet the Drivers" autograph session on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. in the event area in the paddock near the DEKRA Tower. 

All 14 races in the ADAC GT Masters will start at 1 pm. TV station NITRO will present the races live from 12:30 pm. On RTL+, Germany's leading streaming platform, the racing action can be followed live or accessed afterwards in the media library. The qualifying sessions can be seen at sport.de and adac.de/motorsport. 

Maro Engel is back in the ADAC GT Masters
Great news shortly before the fourth stop of the ADAC GT Masters season at the Nürburgring: Maro Engel (Monte Carlo) is back in the German GT Championship. The Mercedes-AMG Performance driver will pilot the #48 "Mamba" as the new teammate of Raffaele Marciello (27/I) for Mann-Filter Team Landgraf. Engel will benefit from his vast experience. The 36-year-old has already completed 50 races in the ADAC GT Masters and finished the 2020 and 2021 seasons in third place on both occasions. 

The Munich native is happy about his return to the German GT Championship and has clear goals: "I'm really looking forward to supporting Raffaele and the team and will do my best to make the championship chances as big as possible. We are very well positioned with the team and the driver line-up with the very clear goal: to bring home victories. But I'm also really looking forward to the big Mann-Filter fan base. It's going to be great," says Engel.