Top-class newcomers and tension in the title race: the ADAC GT Masters travels to Austria

• 2012 DTM champion Bruno Spengler starts for FK Performance Motorsport
• Home outing at the Red Bull Ring for the GRT Grasser-Racing-Team
• Team Joos by Racemotion lines up with two Porsche 911 GT3 R

Munich. The ADAC GT Masters heads to Austria for round five of the season. At the weekend (22nd to 24th September), the ADAC’s iconic GT series is at the Red Bull Ring for its only event outside of Germany. Races nine and ten are the highlight of the season for the GRT Grasser-Racing-Team. The Lamborghini team, led by principal Gottfried Grasser, is based roughly ten kilometres from the current Formula 1 circuit. Salman Owega (Cologne) and Elias Seppänen (FIN/both Landgraf Motorsport) travel to the Styria region of Austria as championship leaders in their Mercedes-AMG GT3. Michael Joos (Vöhringen) can be excused for being particularly excited about the event: after three years, the principal of Team Joos by Racemotion is back in the driver’s seat. He will share the driving duties in the Porsche 911 GT3 R with 2020 ADAC GT Masters champion Christian Engelhart (Starnberg). As such, the Porsche team lines up with two cars at the Alpine circuit. Bruno Spengler (CAN) teams up with Maxime Oosten (NL) in a BMW M4 GT3 for FK Performance Motorsport. TV partner Sport1 is broadcasting the races on Saturday and Sunday live and in full on free-to-air TV, with coverage starting at 15:00.

The backdrop to this crucial phase in the battle for the ADAC GT Masters title could hardly be more impressive. Nestled in the picturesque mountain panorama of the Styria region, the 4.318-kilometre track really puts the drivers and their super sports cars through their paces. The undulating circuit awaits the international field with an elevation change of 65 metres per lap and gradients of up to twelve percent. Fresh from their brace of victories at the Sachsenring, Owega and Seppänen now find themselves in the role of the hunted. The two Mercedes-AMG drivers have established a 31-point lead over their closest rivals, thanks largely to four wins so far this season. The second-placed duo of Finn Gehrsitz (Stuttgart) and Sven Müller (Bingen/both Team Joos by Racemotion) are out to reduce that advantage with their Porsche 911 GT3 R and keep their title hopes alive.

Round five of this season’s ADAC GT Masters is a very special one for Austrian outfit GRT Grasser-Racing-Team from St. Margarethen bei Knittelfeld. “I have been coming to the racetrack since I was a boy, so I have a very close connection with the circuit. For me, the Red Bull Ring, surrounded by mountains, is the most beautiful track on the calendar. Unlike the other teams, we do not have to spend two days travelling to and from the circuit. We can also have breakfast at home with the team in the mornings. That only happens here and is great for us. We have already won twice at the ‘Ring’ with the Lamborghini, and are looking for more of the same,” says team principal Gottfried Grasser. Benjamin Hites (CHL) and Lamborghini works driver Marco Mapelli (I/both GRT Grasser-Racing-Team) are third in the table coming into their team’s home event.

Michael Joos, team principal of Team Joos by Racemotion, is set to make his comeback on the ADAC GT Masters grid at the Red Bull Ring. It is three years since he last raced in the ADAC’s iconic GT series. In Styria, he shares the cockpit of a Porsche 911 GT3 R with Engelhart. “I am delighted that we are now able to run both our Porsche 911 GT3 R in the ADAC GT Masters. As a team, we are ready to take that step. I am sure that we will master this double shift. We believe in the ADAC GT Masters and want to make a statement with this start. For me personally, it will be a challenge to test myself against the top drivers in this series,” says Joos. FK Performance Motorsport will field one BMW M4 GT3. BMW works driver Spengler and Oosten form the driver line-up for the team from Bremen. Schubert Motorsport won both races in Austria last year with BMW’s latest GT3 model. DTM race winner Philip Ellis (D) starts alongside Petru Umbrarescu (RO/both Haupt Racing Team) in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

The two free practice sessions on Friday will give fans a first indication of who to look out for in Spielberg. The serious business really begins on Saturday morning with qualifying (08:25) for race nine of the season, which gets underway at 15:15. On Sunday, qualifying at 09:00 will determine who starts race ten of this season’s ADAC GT Masters from pole at 15:15 that afternoon. All races are shown live and in full on free-to-air TV channel Sport1. The qualifying sessions and races will also be streamed live on the free YouTube channel @adacmotorsports.