ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring truck festival

• ADAC GT Masters features the endurance format at the ADAC Truck Grand Prix
• Joos Sportwagentechnik returns to the ADAC GT Masters in the Eifel
• All the weekend’s races live on Sport1.de, Joyn, ServusTV ON and YouTube

Munich. Tradition meets festival. This weekend, from 11th to 13th July, The ADAC GT Masters forms part of the International ADAC Truck Grand Prix at the legendary Nürburgring. Last year, 130,000 spectators flocked to the festival, which features both racing trucks and the ADAC GT Masters. This season has already seen one joint event at the Lausitzring. The ADAC GT Masters field is set to grow at the Nürburgring: Team Joos returns to the series with a Porsche. Both of the weekend’s races start at 16:10 and will be streamed live on sport1.de, Joyn, ServusTV ON and youtube.com/adacmotorsports. Sky Sport will also show a full replay of both races at a later time.

Back to the endurance format
The event at the Nürburgring will again be an endurance weekend for the teams in the ADAC GT Masters. Both races on the shorter 3.629-kilometre layout will last 80 minutes and include two mandatory pit stops with driver changeovers. Victory in both of the only two endurance races so far in 2025 went to the current championship leaders Leo Pichler (23/AT) and Simon Birch (18/DNK/both Razoon – more than racing). The duo in a Porsche 911 GT3 R lead Tim Zimmermann (28/Langenargen) and Leyton Fourie (19/RSA/both FK Performance Motorsport) by just one point. Zimmermann and Fourie were the dominant pairing in their BMW M4 GT3 Evo at the second weekend of the season in Zandvoort.

“We have seen that we can compete at the front. Now that we are first in the championship, we obviously want to stay there,” says Pichler. “We feel very well prepared for the coming endurance races. We’ve got it under control, and I believe we could have some very good results again.”

Home races for many drivers and teams
The weekend in the Eifel Mountains is a home event for many drivers and teams. None more so than Nico Hantke (21). The racer from Hürth lives less than 80 kilometres from the Nürburgring. He drivers an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 for Scherer Sport PHX, who are based in Meuspath, in the Nürburgring’s industrial estate. “I am very much looking forward to the weekend. I really like the circuit itself, and I also believe that it should suit our Audi,” says Hantke. “It goes without saying that the weather is always a crucial factor in the Eifel, but I am confident that the Scherer team is prepared for any eventualities, if for no other reason than its proximity to the track.”

Twins Sandro and Juliano Holzem (21) probably have the shortest journey. The two Schubert Motorsport drivers live in Polch, 30 kilometres away as the crow flies. Sandro Holzem claimed his best result in the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring in 2023, when he finished second. “For us, this weekend is a combination of pressure and motivation. We obviously want to do our best, especially as there will be so many acquaintances and sponsors there. At the same time, it makes us all the more determined to get a top result on home soil,” says Sandro Holzem. His brother Juliano adds: “We obviously want to win, otherwise we wouldn’t be here!”

Haupt Racing Team can also look forward to home advantage with its three Ford Mustang GT3. The team is based in Drees, right next to the Nürburgring, and won both races in the Eifel last year – still with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the time. It is with this manufacturer that Moritz Wiskirchen will be looking to impress the crowds at his home circuit in 2025. The 22-year-old from Euskirchen often used to visit the Nürburgring with his father when he was a child. “Unfortunately, just because I live round the corner does not mean I have driven there more often than the others,” says Wiskirchen. “Despite this, I am still optimistic. The track ought to suit our Mercedes-AMG and I hope that we can challenge at the front with the extra motivation of being at home.”

Runner-up returns to the ADAC GT Masters
Team Joos Sportwagentechnik will make a guest appearance in the ADAC’s GT3 series at the Nürburgring. At the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R will be team principal Michael Joos (34/Vöhringen) and newcomer Felix Neuhofer (28/AT). The outfit from the Baden-Württemberg town of Vöhringen is a familiar name in the ADAC GT Masters. From 2021 to 2024, the team contested the full season and finished runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship with current DTM driver Ayhancan Güven and Christian Engelhart.

Michael Joos has started ten races in total and won race two at the Red Bull Ring in 2023. His team-mate Neuhofer already has a lot of experience in a Porsche, having lined up in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland among other series. “My debut in the ADAC GT Masters is a real milestone for me – but I am not here to make up the numbers. I want to show what I am capable of, to compete, to push hard, and to assert myself. The series is tough, but that is exactly what motivates me,” says the Austrian. Team-mate and team principal Joos adds: “The start at the Nürburgring is initially a one-off, but we hope to produce two good races and attract sponsors and partners, who will then enable us to line up again in this year’s ADAC GT Masters.”