The season finale of the GTC race as part of the ADAC Racing Weekend marks the second time this year that the traditional series has come to the Nürburgring. It will be the fifth race weekend of the season for the GT racing series. After the race series already took place on the short version of the Nürburgring in June, the entire 5.148-kilometer Grand Prix circuit in the Eifel will now be used.
“We are looking forward to three exciting races at the Nürburgring to round off the season. In both the GT3 and GT4 classes, there are still exciting fights for the title win, which will certainly add extra spice to the races. We want to finish the 2024 season in the best possible way and set the course for a good 2025 season,” said series manager Kilian Weitz.
In the GT3 class, there is still a thrilling title fight in the GT60 powered by Pirelli and in the GT Sprint. In the one-hour race classification, Julian Hanses and Jay Mo Härtling have a 17-point lead over the Land Motorsport duo of Ivan Peklin and Konstantin Gutsul. Luca Arnold still has a mathematical chance with a deficit of 25 points. The title race is even closer in the sprint race classification. Here, Härtling leads Arnold by just one point. Peklin and Hanses also still have a chance of winning the title, with a 15- and 16-point gap respectively.
Championship leaders Jay Mo Härtling and Julian Hanses will start in the GT60 with Schnitzelalm Racing. The two GTC Race sponsored drivers Hanses and Härtling are well prepared for the legendary Formula 1 circuit. The GT Sprint championship title is still up for grabs, as Härtling has only a minimal lead.
Luca Arnold, who celebrated his first overall victory in the GTC Race at Hockenheim in August, will once again be at the start line in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Arnold will be supported by former DTM driver and ADAC GT Masters race winner Marvin Dienst in the GT60 powered by Pirelli. He will compete in the two sprint races as a soloist. The car is entered by W&S Motorsport.
Since the team was founded in 2017, the équipe vitesse has competed in the GTC Race on a regular basis. At the finale at the Nürburgring, the team led by dedicated team manager Jil Herbst will line up in the race series for the first time this year. The team from Waldlaubersheim will field a Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Martin Zander and GT3 stalwart Kenneth Heyer. “For us, participating is also a test for the coming season, as the GTC Race, with its increased focus on gentleman drivers, is very attractive for us! After the race weekend at the Nürburgring and when more information about the 2025 season is available, we will make a final decision on whether we will return to the GTC Race full-time,” explains Jil Herbst.
The fact that the focus is also on the gentleman drivers in the GTC Race is also demonstrated by the other GT3 participants in the field. Konstantin Gutsul shares the Land Motorsport Audi with his Ukrainian compatriot Ivan Peklin. Through intensive collaboration with Peklin, Gutsul has been able to make great progress over the course of the season and develop strongly. The ambitious gentleman driver Klaus Koch will compete in a Car Collection Audi. Koch will share the car with GT3 newcomer Bernhard Wagner, who will compete in the GTC Race for the first time. Wagner enjoyed success in the International German Motorcycle Championship (IDM) in the 2000s with a sidecar. After a serious accident, he switched to car racing in 2010, where he competes on the Nordschleife, among other tracks.
In the GT4 class, the title fight in the GT60 powered by Pirelli has already been decided: Enrico Förderer and Joel Mesch won the title at Spa-Francorchamps. In the GT Sprint classification, Förderer leads by twelve points ahead of Mesch after four wins. Yves Volte is another three points behind in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport of Razoon – more than racing. Volte will again be supported in the title fight by Tobias Andersen, who was already at his side at the start in Hockenheim. The title fight in the GT4 class Trophy classification will also be exciting. Here, only 2.5 points separate the two W&S Motorsport drivers Moritz Berrenberg and Tim Horrell before the finale in the Eifel.
Förderer and Mesch will again compete together in a Schnitzelalm Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4. Enrico Förderer would like to continue his successful streak: the talented young driver has won every GT60 powered by Pirelli and every GT Sprint race he has contested this year.
With the RS24 Racing Team, the GTC Race can also welcome a new entry in the GT4 class at the finale. The team from Hainburg in the district of Offenburg is entering a BMW M4 GT4 driven by Bastian Hein. The driver has gained experience in various popular sports series in recent years and is now ready for his debut in the GTC Race. In addition, the team is organizing a DKMS typing campaign in the paddock on Saturday in collaboration with the GTC Race to support five-month-old Leonidas in his fight against blood cancer.
At Spa-Francorchamps, ME Motorsport narrowly missed out on their first victory in the GTC Race. Markus Eichele's team is now doing everything it can to achieve this at the season finale at the Nürburgring. The team's BMW M4 GT4 will be driven by the two fast youngsters Linus Hahne and Philip Wiskirchen.
Meanwhile, Anton Abée is hoping for home advantage in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 from Up2race. His team is based near the Nürburgring in Nerdlen. Abée has also performed well in the GT4 class throughout the season and was in contention for class victory at Spa, but after the car was so badly damaged in an accident during practice at Hockenheim that it was unable to compete for the rest of the race weekend, the driver from northern Germany lost any chance of a good result in the championship.
W&S Motorsport will once again be the biggest contender in the GT4 class at the Nürburgring. The team is entering a total of three Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport cars. Trophy driver Tim Horrell will again be competing with Hendrik Still in the GT60 powered by Pirelli, while he will compete in the sprint races alone. New: Moritz Berenberg and Nico Gündel will also share a car for the first time in the GT60 powered by Pirelli, while they will again start in their own cars with starting numbers #31 and #32 in the GT Sprint and compete in both races. The Porsche line-up in the GTC Race will be rounded off by CCS Racing, which will field a Cayman for Nikolas Gebhardt.