ADAC GT Masters regulars vie for honours in Nürburgring 24 hours

• 44th running of the ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race at the Nürburgring on 28th/29th May
• More than 20 ADAC GT Masters drivers on the grid for German endurance classic

Munich: Fans of the Super Sports Car League have not been left totally bereft in the five-week hiatus between the Sachsenring weekend and the Motorsport Festival at the Lausitzring (3rd 5th June) when the DTM also features on the bill. This year's ADAC Zurich 24-hour race at the Nürburgring will be contested by six ADAC GT Masters teams and more than 20 drivers from the current crop of entrants, including three of the four winners from last year. The 44th running of the event starts at 3.30pm local time on Saturday 28th May.

Team Zakspeed has no fewer than three former ADAC GT Masters champions in its ranks. The two reigning title holders Sebastian Asch (29, DEU) and Luca Ludwig (27, DEU) are of course fully familiar with the Mercedes-AMG they will be driving. The dynamic duo have already notched up two wins out of four in the 2016 ADAC GT Masters at the wheel of the new super sports car from Stuttgart. Completing the four-man squad are Daniel Keilwitz (26, DEU), who won the championship in 2013 and who usually drives a Corvette C7 prepared by Callaway Competition, and Kenneth Heyer, who has one ADAC GT Masters race win under his belt and is a frequent contestant on the Nordschleife. The outfit owned and managed by Peter Zakowski will also be entering a Nissan GT-R driven by two of last year's ADAC GT Masters contestants, Florian Strauss and Marc Gassner.

Three more of the current crop of ADAC GT Masters drivers will be representing Bentley Team ABT in the 24-hour marathon. The first of two Bentley Continentals will be driven by Christer Jöns (28, DEU) while the sister vehicle will be shared by Guy Smith (41 GB), winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003, and talented youngster Fabian Hamprecht (20, DEU).

The most popular choice of car for the teams taking time off from the ADAC GT Masters to try their luck in the 'Green Hell' is the Audi R8. Montaplast by Land-Motorsport have prepared one of the supercars supplied by the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer for the foursome of Marc Basseng (37, DEU), winner of the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2012, Connor De Phillippi (23, USA), who currently leads the ADAC GT Masters championship, Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Scheider. Both Rockenfeller and Scheider are former DTM champions. The Phoenix Racing quartet consists of former ADAC GT Masters champion Christopher Haase (28, DEU) and René Rast, Markus Winkelhock (35, DEU), who won the 24-hour race in 2012 and 2014 and Frank Stippler. Team Car Collection Motorsport are also entering an R8, but without any of their current ADAC GT Masters squad.

As in the ADAC GT Masters, Schubert Motorsport will be sending a BMW M6 to vie for honours on the Nordschleife. Jesse Krohn (25, FIN) and Martin Tomczyk (34, DEU) have already shared the cockpit of the new M6 once before this year - in the season opener at Oschersleben. ADAC GT Masters regulars Martin Ragginger (28, A), Robert Renauer (32, DEU) and Norbert Siedler (33, A) are also named on the starter list for the 24-hour race. Patrick Assenheimer (24, DEU, Mercedes-Benz C 230), Xavier Maassen (35, NL, Porsche Cayman) and Andreas Weishaupt (43, DEU, Porsche 911) are three further ADAC GT Masters drivers who are signed up for the forthcoming race, albeit not in GT3 cars.

For three of the ADAC GT Masters regulars, nothing less than a repeat of last year's result will do: Laurens Vanthoor (25, B) and ADAC GT Masters championship leader Christopher Mies (27, DEU) link up with DTM driver Nico Müller and Pierre Kaffer for Audi Sport Team WRT, aiming for a second successive victory. In the sister WRT Audi will be Edward Sandström (37, S) who together with Vanthoor and Mies lifted the 2015 winners' trophy.