Götz and Buhk fastest in ADAC GT Masters pre-season tests

• Mercedes partnership posts best times in three out of four sessions
• Official tests suggest 2013 ADAC GT Masters will be highly competitive
• ADAC holds press conference at etropolis Motorsport Arena in run-up to new season

Not long now until the start of the 2013 ADAC GT Masters season: There are just two weeks to go before the opening race of the Super Sports Car League at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben (26th to 28th April). The teams have made full use of the past two days to prepare their cars at the Oschersleben track where the first race weekend is scheduled to take place. On Tuesday and Wednesday, more than twenty supercars were given a run-out ahead of the season, with particular attention being paid to the latest generation of tyres from ADAC GT Masters exclusive partner YOKOHAMA.

Getting off to the best possible start were ADAC GT Masters defending champion Maximilian Götz (27, Uffenheim) and FIA GT3 European Champion Maximilian Buhk (20, Dassendorf, Polarweiss Racing) setting the fastest time on Tuesday and on Wednesday afternoon in their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. The only session in which they missed out was Wednesday morning when Diego Alessi (41, Italy) and Daniel Keilwitz (23, Villingen) topped the timesheet in their Callaway Corvette. But in the afternoon, it was once again the Mercedes-Benz duo of Götz and Buhk who were setting the pace with a time of 01:27.490 mins.

Also making a strong impression was the new team of Prosperia C Abt Racing with its two Audi R8s, Christian Mamerow (28, Waltrop) and Christer Jöns (25, Ingelheim) ending the Wednesday afternoon session as second fastest in their Prosperia Audi R8. Another team looking in good shape were Callaway Competition: their two pairings of Christian Hohenadel (36, Saarbrücken) / Andreas Wirth (28, Heidelberg) and Diego Alessi / Daniel Keilwitz put in the third and fourth-fastest times on Wednesday in the two Callaway Corvettes. The speediest Porsche duo on Wednesday were Christina Nielsen (21, DK) and Allan Simonsen (34, DK) in the Porsche 911 of Farnbacher Racing ahead of their team-mates Mario Farnbacher (20, Ansbach) and Phillipp Frommenwiler (23, CH).

Lars Soutschka, Head of ADAC Motorsport, was sounding upbeat after the tests: "These two days at Oschersleben have already given us a strong idea of what to expect in the 2013 ADAC GT Masters. The pre-season tests have shown that the field will once again be very well matched. As usual, we can certainly look forward to a very exciting season and to a great opening weekend at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben."

Girl power in the ADAC GT Masters: Claudia Hürtgen and Christina Nielsen

BMW driver Claudia Hürtgen (41, Aachen, Schubert Motorsport) will not be the only fast lady in the 2013 ADAC GT Masters. The winner of three previous races in the series is up against competition from ex-Formel ADAC driver Christina Nielsen who has teamed up with Allan Simonsen in a Porsche 911. "The Porsche is a great racing car, but first of all I have to get used to having things like ABS and traction control," says the Danish woman. "The Porsche has more power, more downforce and wider tyres than I'm familiar with. But in Allan Simonsen I have an experienced team-mate, and I'm sure I'll be learning a lot from him this season."

ADAC GT Masters goes global: First drivers from India and Qatar

The 2013 ADAC GT Masters season is even more international than before, with drivers from India and Qatar also involved in the pre-season tests. The Audi R8 of MS RACING will be driven by Aditya Patel (24) from India, partnering Daniel Dobitsch (28) of Austria. Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman Al Thaner from Qatar was testing for Callaway Competition. The young Arab was delighted after his first test drive in Europe: "I've only been in motor racing for two years, and in my home country, I've been driving Porsches. The Corvette is impressive and is very easy to drive; I also love the European circuits."

Christian Engelhart: Good impression of the new Porsche

The Porsche 911 has a new look - in particular a wider body - for the 2013 season. The three Porsche teams - Farnbacher Racing Porsche, Tonio by Herberth Motorsport and Schütz Motorsport - have spent the two days at Oschersleben finding out all about the new enhanced 911. Porsche driver Christian Engelhart (26, Kösching, Schütz Motorsport) likes what he has seen: "This latest update makes the Porsche much easier to drive than before. We're now able to take the corners faster, but we pay a price in terms of top speed on the straights. Last year, we were losing out on the corners, but these aerodynamic improvements have put us on an equal footing with the opposition."

Press conference gets everyone in the mood for racing

As joint organisers of the ADAC GT Masters season opener, etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, ADAC central office in Munich and the Saxony/Saxony-Anhalt branch of the ADAC held a press conference on Wednesday. After Lars Soutschka, Head of ADAC Motorsport, had spoken about the forthcoming ADAC GT Masters season in general terms, Reinhard Manlik, Chairman of ADAC Saxony/Saxony-Anhalt, focused on the opening weekend which takes place at Oschersleben. Thomas Voss, CEO of etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, told the assembled journalists about all the other attractions planned for 2013 at Germany's most northerly race track: "We are looking forward to an action-packed season. After the long winter, it's good to be getting going again. The ADAC GT Masters is a wonderful way to start the season, but it then continues with the DTM, the Motorcycle Endurance Championship, the Opel Meet and Truck Trial European Championship."

Wednesday's Top Ten:

1. Maximilian Götz / Maximilian Buhk (Polarweiss Racing, Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3), 01:27.490 mins
2. Christian Mamerow / Christer Jöns (Prosperia C. Abt Speed, Audi R8 LMS ultra), 01:27.862 mins
3. Christian Hohenadel / Andreas Wirth (Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), 01:27.888 mins
4. Diego Alessi / Daniel Keilwitz (Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), 01:27.899 mins
5. René Rast / Christopher Mies (Prosperia C. Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS), 01:27.949 mins
6. Christina Nielsen / Allan Simonsen (Farnbacher Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R), 01:27,979 mins
7. Mario Farnbacher / Philipp Frommenwiler (Farnbacher Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R), 01:28.077 mins
8. Andreas Simonsen / Sergey Afanasiev (Polarweiss Racing, Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3), 01:28.115 mins
9. Sebastian Asch / Florian Stoll (MS RACING, Audi R8 LMS ultra), 01:28.393 mins
10. Claudia Hürtgen / Dominik Baumann (Schubert Motorsport, BMW Z4 GT3), 01:28.530 mins