Mercedes-AMG marginally fastest in ADAC GT Masters dress rehearsal

• Raffaele Marciello posts best lap time in preseason tests at the Lausitzring
• Defending champion Kelvin van der Linde not far behind
• Teams clock up almost 15,000 kilometres in two days

Munich: The 2020 ADAC GT Masters is good to go. The teams who will contest this year's Super Sports Car League have completed the official preseason tests at the Lausitzring. Fastest over the weekend was Mercedes-AMG driver Raffaele Marciello (25, ITA, HTP-Winward Motorsport). Not all that far behind was reigning champion Kelvin van der Linde (24, ZA, Rutronik Racing) in an Audi, ahead of third-placed Porsche man Sven Müller (28, GER, Precote Herberth Motorsport). The ADAC GT Masters curtain-raiser is due to take place in just under two weeks' time (30th July - 2nd August) at the same venue 100km south of Berlin. Like all other weekends on the calendar, the races will be shown live and in full length on free-to-air TV channel SPORT1. They can also be watched online via the livestreams on sport1.de, adac.de/motorsport and youtube.com/adac.

The teams completed a total of five official pre-season test sessions adding up to almost 6½ hours. The 29 cars fielded by 18 teams put in more than 4,300 laps, equivalent to a total distance of almost 15,000 kilometres. The tests took place under strict conditions and in accordance with anti-Covid precautions drawn up by the ADAC GT Masters and officially approved.

The best lap time of the weekend was posted by reigning FIA GT World Cup champion Raffaele Marciello who shares the cockpit of a Mercedes-AMG with Philip Ellis (27, GB). Marciello set his time of 1:22.330 minutes in the penultimate session on Sunday afternoon. "The first day of testing wasn't all that good for us," conceded Marciello. "But then we made a change to the car, and I felt much more comfortable with it. I was pretty happy at the end. We are well prepared for the season opener. Let's see how the conditions are then. Anyway, we've got a good team and we'll adjust quickly."

Second fastest in the test was the 2019 champion Kelvin van der Linde who, together with co-champion Patric Niederhauser (28, CH), is aiming to successfully defend his title this season. Van der Linde was fastest in the last session and missed out on the absolute best time by a hair's breadth on 1:22.365 minutes. "This good result is highly motivating for the team," said the South African. "It went very well. We experimented with a lot of things, and everything worked fine. We're ready for the season opener in just under two weeks. Because every team had a different programme for the test days, it's only then that we'll see the favourites begin to emerge." Two other Audi drivers - Christopher Mies (31, GER, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) and Dries Vanthoor (22. BEL, Team WRT), who had dominated the proceedings on Saturday, also posted fastest laptimes in the sessions.

Third place overall went to the Porsche duo of Sven Müller and Robert Renauer (35, GER) with a time of 1:22.467 minutes. Consequently, there were three different brands finishing in the Top Three positions.

"The test went superbly well," said Müller, who snatched a victory in 2017 in the last race of the ADAC GT Masters at the Lausitzring partnered by Renauer. "It's been great to be back at this track. I'm looking forward to driving for Precote Herberth Motorsport again. Everything worked right from the off. We got through our entire programme, which involved qualifying and race simulations. We're now well prepared for the season opener."

The Bentley Continental GT3 from T3-HRT-Motorsport was meanwhile making its debut appearance in the ADAC GT Masters. Constantin Schöll (21, AUT) and Jordan Pepper (23, ZA) completed 175 laps in the Saxony-based outfit's first test with the recently delivered car and collected valuable data in the process.

Test 1

1. Kim-Luis Schramm / Christopher Mies, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi, 1:22.639 mins
2. Filip Salaquarda / Frank Stippler, Team ISR, Audi, 1:23.117 mins
3. Sven Müller / Robert Renauer, Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche, 1:23.150 mins
4. Indy Dontje / Maximilian Götz, HTP-Winward Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG, 1:23.296 mins
5. Maro Engel / Luca Stolz, Toksport WRT, Mercedes-AMG, 1:23,305 mins

Test 2

1. Charles Weerts / Dries Vanthoor, Team WRT, Audi, 1:22.579 mins
2. Patric Niederhauser / Kelvin van der Linde, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.688 mins
3. Jeffrey Schmidt / Markus Pommer, Callaway Competition, Corvette, 1:22.913 mins
4. Dennis Marschall / Carrie Schreiner, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.941 mins
5. Kim-Luis Schramm / Christopher Mies, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi, 1:22.960 mins

Test 3

1. Kim-Luis Schramm / Christopher Mies, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi, 1:22.577 mins
2. Simona De Silvestro / Klaus Bachler, Küs Team75 Bernhard, Porsche, 1:22.592 mins
3. Sven Müller / Robert Renauer, Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche, 1:22.679 mins
4. Philip Ellis / Raffaele Marciello, HTP-Winward Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG, 1:22.688 mins
5. Filip Salaquarda / Frank Stippler, Team ISR, Audi, 1:22.770 mins

Test 4

1. Philip Ellis / Raffaele Marciello, HTP-Winward Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG, 1:22.330 mins
2. Sven Müller / Robert Renauer, Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche, 1:22.467 mins
3. Maro Engel / Luca Stolz, Toksport WRT, Mercedes-AMG, 1:22.472 mins
4. Indy Dontje / Maximilian Götz, HTP-Winward Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG, 1:22.505 mins
5. Dennis Marschall / Carrie Schreiner, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.542 mins

Test 5

1. Patric Niederhauser / Kelvin van der Linde, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.365 mins
2. Nick Yelloly / Henric Skoog, Schubert Motorsport, BMW, 1:22.581 mins
3. Charles Weerts / Dries Vanthoor, Team WRT, Audi, 1:22.637 mins
4. Filip Salaquarda / Frank Stippler, Team ISR, Audi, 1:22.642 mins
5. Stefan Mücke / Ricardo Feller, BWT Mücke Motorsport, Audi, 1:22.775 mins

Combined times for Saturday and Sunday

1. Philip Ellis / Raffaele Marciello, HTP-Winward Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG, 1:22.330 mins
2. Patric Niederhauser / Kelvin van der Linde, Rutronik Racing, Audi, 1:22.365 mins
3. Sven Müller / Robert Renauer, Precote Herberth Motorsport, Porsche, 1:22.467 mins
4. Maro Engel / Luca Stolz, Toksport WRT, Mercedes-AMG, 1:22.472 mins
5. Indy Dontje / Maximilian Götz, HTP-Winward Motorsport, Mercedes-AMG, 1:22.505 mins