Mercedes-AMG kick off Sachsenring weekend with best time

• Maro Engel quickest in FP1
• Four different makes of car occupy top four positions

Hohenstein-Ernstthal: Mercedes-AMG had the first best showing of the weekend with Maro Engel (35, Monte Carlo), who set best time in first practice for this fourth round of the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring. Klaus Bachler (29, AUT, Küs Team75 Bernhard) was second while P3 went to Frédéric Vervisch (34, BEL, Team WRT) in an Audi. SPORT1 will broadcast the two races live from the circuit on Saturday and Sunday at 13:00 CEST. Racing can also be watched online as live stream at sport1.de, adac.de/motorsport and youtube.com/adac.

Engel set a time of 1:19.875 minutes in the dying minutes of the session, but team-mate Luca Stolz (25, GER) had a hot moment just prior to that when he spun. He suffered no major consequences but the one-hour session was briefly interrupted.

"What a great start to the weekend!" said Engel. "The car is running well. We are just going through our programme with the aim of having a well-balanced car for the races. Over the weekend, we intend to build on the good showing we had in the first few races and secure as many points as we can. We obviously want to finish on the podium if possible."

Sharing the drive in the Porsche 911 with Simona De Silvestro (32, CH), Klaus Bachler was just 75 thousandths behind Engel, demonstrating his good form once again at the Sachsenring. He had already excelled earlier this Friday morning by posting best time during testing. "I've been very pleased so far," said Austrian driver, Bachler. "We were twice up there with the front-runners. The car is running well. The team did a fantastic job, because we had to almost completely rebuild the car after the accident late on at Hockenheim."

Third place went to Rolf Ineichen (42, CH) and Frédéric Vervisch (34, BEL, both Team WRT) in the best-placed Audi R8 LMS with a time of 1:20.124 minutes. Coming home in fourth, 0.4 seconds down on best time, Lamborghini works drivers Franck Perera (36, FRA) and Albert Costa Balboa (30, ESP, both GRT Grasser Racing Team) ensured that a good variety of different car brands finished at the head of the field. Another Mercedes-AMG with Daniel Keilwitz (31, GER) and Jimmy Eriksson (29, SWE, both Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing) completed the Top Five, setting a time of 1:20.245 minutes.

Ortmann in comeback at BWT Mücke Motorsport
For the rest of the season, Mike David Ortmann (20, GER) will share the BWT Mücke Motorsport #25 Audi R8 LMS with Igor Walilko (23, PL). As a result, Ortmann is now back with the outfit from Berlin, for whom he lined up in the Super Sports Car League from 2017 to 2019. "I'm delighted to be able to contest the ADAC GT Masters races that remain," said Ortmann, who had a guest start with EFP Car Collection by TECE earlier in the season at the Nürburgring. "This is a terrific opportunity, and I'm really pleased. It's always nice to return to a team, for whom you've driven previously for quite a long time. You know the people and the setup and immediately feel at home again."

Vervisch standing in for Bortolotti
Audi Sport driver Frédéric Vervisch from Belgium will compete at the Sachsenring in the WRT #30 Audi. He is standing in for regular driver Mirko Bortolotti (30, ITA), who is racing in the USA. "I had my last start in the ADAC GT Masters here at the Sachsenring in 2019," said Vervisch. "The track is quite tricky. You have to find the right rhythm to be fast, but I'm feeling confident. The Sachsenring suits the Audi."

PS on Air this Saturday evening
The current edition of PS on Air - The Ravenol ADAC GT Masters Talk show will go out live from the Sachsenring circuit on Saturday at 20:00 CEST. Presenter Patrick Simon will be joined by guests as they review Saturday's ADAC GT Masters race around the roller-coaster of a track in Saxony and analyse the most important moments.

Note for media representatives:

ADAC GT Masters press conferences
Press conferences with the Top Three from ADAC GT Masters races are held virtually via Skype. Call the dial-in number 089 7676 3200 and then key in the relevant conference code. There are no additional costs apart from your regular telephone charges.

Saturday 3rd October, 14:45 CEST: ADAC GT Masters Race 1 / conference code: 3248638#

Sunday 4th October, 14:45 CEST: ADAC GT Masters Race 2 / conference code 3662072#

Please remember to mute your microphone when calling from a noisy environment.