Close contest at the top: who will lead the ADAC GT Masters at the halfway point?

• The first half of the German GT Championship draws to a close at the Nürburgring
• Audi driver Jusuf Owega aiming to defend table-topping position in the Eifel
• Three drivers level on points at the top

Munich. Spectators and fans had to go without ADAC GT Masters racing action for nearly six weeks. The summer break in the German GT Championship is coming to an end at the weekend. The supercars are heading to the Nürburging, the fourth stop of the season, for races seven and eight. The result of Saturday’s event will determine who leads the ADAC GT Masters at the halfway point. Several drivers in a very balanced field are still in with a chance of claiming the unofficial title. At the legendary Nürburgring, the second half of the season will start on Sunday with the eighth of 14 races in total. TV partner NITRO will broadcast the ADAC GT Masters races live on Saturday and Sunday, both at 12:30.

Key facts, Nürburgring, Nürburg, races 7 and 8 of 14
Track length: 3,629 metres
Layout: eleven turns (seven right, four left), clockwise driving direction
Winners 2021, race 1: Ricardo Feller/Christopher Mies (Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, Audi R8 LMS Evo)
Winners 2021, race 2: Michael Ammermüller/Mathieu Jaminet (SSR Performance, Porsche 911 GT3 R)

All to play for at the top
After six races, three drivers are tied on 70 points in the top positions. Jusuf Owega (20/Cologne) tops the table in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #29 from the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport team. This is due to the fact that, unlike his two closest rivals, the young driver from Cologne has already chalked up a win with Ricardo Feller (22/CH), who missed one race weekend. “It is unbelievably tight in the ADAC GT Masters, not just at the top but also throughout the field. Every point counts. Of course, it would be great to head into the second half of the season in first place. But being in that position at the end is what counts. No-one's talking about the ‘halfway champion’ then,” explains the Audi driver.

Just before the end of the second race in Zandvoort, his rivals Christian Engelhart (35/Starnberg) and Ayhancan Güven (24/TR) were already leading the table in the #91 Porsche 911 GT3 R, only to be knocked back by a technical defect. At the Nürburgring, the Joos Sportwagentechnik crew is aiming to retake the lead and record the first win of the season. The youngster duo of Niklas Krütten (19/Trier) and Ben Green (24/GB) has already topped the podium twice with the BMW M4 GT3 #10 from the Schubert Motorsport team and is in third place in the overall standings. Niklas Krütten: “Especially in qualifying, we have to avoid errors as these are so hard to correct in the race with such a balanced field. If we get everything perfect, we can compete.” The Emil Frey Racing team is waiting to pounce after double success in Zandvoort. Sunday’s winners Jack Aitken (26/GB) and Albert Costa Balboa (32/E) have worked their way up to fourth in the table with the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo #63, while brand team-mates Franck Perera (38/F) and Arthur Rougier (22/F) are in sixth place. The combination of Mick Wishofer (22/A) and Konsta Lappalainen (20/FIN) has moved up to second in the Junior standings after victory on Saturday. “The Lamborghini works well at the Nürburgring. We are confident and want to record two consistent results to stay in touch in the Junior standings,” promises Mick Wishofer.

The fans can also look forward to seeing the recently crowned winners of the legendary 24-hour classic race in 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 hope to build on that great performance with their teams in the ADAC GT Masters.

Local heroes excitedly looking forward to home race
Seven drivers are looking forward to their home race in the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring. Coming from Meuspath, Audi driver Kim-Lius Schramm (25) from the Rutronik Racing team has the shortest journey. Two-time Spielberg winner Niklas Krütten (19) hails from Trier and will be competing for Schubert Motorsport in a BMW M4 GT3. Brothers Salman (17) and Yusuf (20) Owega live in Cologne and both drive for the Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi team, albeit in different cars. Mercedes-Benz driver Fabian Schiller (25) lives in Troisdorf and Joel Sturm (20), competing for Allied Racing in the Porsche, is based in Brühl. Christopher Mies has very fond memories of the Nürburgring. Last season, the current champion from Düsseldorf secured the ADAC GT Masters title at the finale in the Eifel and will be competing with special motivation as he became a father last week.

Total motorsport
The supporting programme for the ADAC GT Masters features four more spectacular racing series at the Nürburgring. In the ADAC GT4 Germany, fans can look forward to seeing thrilling duels between the “smaller” GT sports cars. The ADAC TCR Germany provides tough touring car action, while the motorsport stars of tomorrow battle for wins, places and points in the ADAC Formula 4 youth series. The historic Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland has been electrifying spectators for years with fast-paced sprint races, ruthless battles and fascinating overtaking manoeuvres. All visitors should make a note of the pitwalk on Saturday at 10:45 and on Sunday at 10:35, as well as the “Meet the Drivers” autograph session on Saturday at 15:15, at the paddock event space near the DEKRA Tower.

All ADAC GT Masters races start at 13:00. International viewers can watch the qualifying and the races live on adac.de/motorsport, the new ADAC Motorsports YouTube channel youtube.com/ADACMotorsports and motorsport.tv.