Wanted! Yet more winners in the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring

• Third race weekend of the 2013 ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring near Chemnitz
• One of the season’s highlights – drivers love the challenge
• Rock fans in for a treat at Sachsenring open-air concert

Long sweeping turns that call for nerves of steel, breathtaking changes of elevation and blind corners: the Sachsenring at Hohenstein-Ernstthal is guaranteed to get the adrenaline pumping. This undulating circuit with its beautiful natural setting in the heart of Saxony is the venue for rounds five and six of the 2013 Super Sports Car League, and it counts as a real drivers’ favourite. The double race bill promises yet more exciting action in a season that has already proved unpredictable and intriguing, with four different winners from the first four races so far contested.

Key facts, Sachsenring, Races 5 and 6
Length of track: 3.67 kilometres
Layout: 14 turns (10 left-handers, 4 right-handers), driven anti-clockwise
Last year’s winners of Race 1: Diego Alessi & Daniel Keilwitz (Callaway Competition, Corvette)
Last year’s winners of Race 2: Kristian Poulsen & Christoffer Nygaard (Young Driver AMR, Aston Martin V12 Vantage)
ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring on TV: See attachment for overview of the broadcasting schedules

ADAC GT Masters looking for winner number five

The first four races of the 2013 ADAC GT Masters season were won by an Audi, a Corvette, a Ford and a BMW. Christopher Mies (24) and René Rast (26) of Prosperia C Abt Racing are optimistic about their chances of becoming the first pairing to record a second win of the season. “The Sachsenring has always suited the Audi, so I’m feeling quite confident,” says Rast, winner of the season opener at Oschersleben. Christopher Mies, who has already won two previous races at the Sachsenring, agrees: “The track is perfect for the R8, and ideally, we would like to make it two podiums out of two there.” But Mies knows that it won’t be an easy task. “The standard of competition in the ADAC GT Masters is very high, which makes it difficult to predict how the two races will go.” The two Audi drivers are also up against some stiff competition in their own team from the ex-DTM duo of Rahel Frey (27) from Switzerland and Markus Winkelhock (32) and from the partnership of Christer Jöns (25) and Christian Mamerow (28).

Sebastian Asch (26) of MS RACING is also putting his faith in the car with the best track record in the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring – five wins so far. The defending champion, who shares the cockpit of his Audi R8 with Florian Stoll (31), has so far had a shaky start to the season and is keen to register his first points of the campaign at the Sachsenring. Co-winner of the 2013 title Maximilian Götz (27) of Polarweiss Racing has had a more encouraging start – the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG driver has already made two podium appearances together with his new partner Maximilian Buhk (20). Their target for the coming weekend is to finish on the top spot and to consolidate the lead held by Polarweiss Racing in the team standings.

Corvette duo Alessi/Keilwitz aiming to repeat last year’s victory

Up until now, the Sachsenring has had a reputation as the domain of the mid-engined super sports car such as the Audi R8, Ford GT or Lamborghini Gallardo. Last year, the Callaway Competition duo of Diego Alessi (41, Italy) and Daniel Keilwitz (23, Germany) broke the sequence by posting a victory in their Corvette. After a promising start to the season, with a win in the season opener at Oschersleben, the 2012 ADAC GT Masters runners-up have high hopes for the two races at the Sachsenring.

Dutch duo den Boer and Knap looking for another podium

Leading the drivers’ championship after three successive podium finishes, Jeroen den Boer (25) and Simon Knap (24) will be transporting their DB Motorsport BMW Z4 all the way from the Netherlands in the hope of recording a first outright victory of the season. Jeroen den Boer: “Last year, the BMW Z4 was very quick at the Sachsenring. However, we struggled a bit because we weren’t familiar with the track. But since then, we have acquired some experience of driving at the Sachsenring, and I hope that we can do well this weekend.”

Meanwhile, there are two teams who will be hoping to derive advantage from competing in their home race. THE BOSS YACO Racing from Plauen are keen to finish in the points with their Audi R8 driven by local favourite Philip Geipel (26) and 2011 ADAC GT Masters champion Dino Lunardi (34) from France. Making a guest appearance at the Sachsenring is Schulze Motorsport; the team from Tagewerben near Leipzig is entering a Nissan GT-R driven by brothers Tobias (31) and Michael Schulze (28).

Rock and racing in Sachsenring open-air concert debut

Motor racing fans at the Sachsenring can look forward to more than just the symphony of high-powered engines, with the Sachsenring staging its first ever open-air concert as part of the support programme to the ADAC GT Masters weekend. On Saturday evening (8th June), cult band Leningrad Cowboys and Cascada who represented Germany in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will be performing live on a stage next to the start-finish straight.

The 2013 ADAC GT Masters will once again be contested over 16 rounds on eight race weekends throughout the year. All 16 races of the ADAC GT Masters will be shown on free-to-air TV station kabel eins. The live broadcasts to audiences in Germany, Austria and Switzerland commence at 12 noon on both the Saturday and the Sunday. The Super Sports Car League is being hosted by two new venues this time: the Formula 1 circuit at Spa-Francorchamps and the Slovakia Ring in Slovakia.

Tickets for all ADAC GT Masters races start at €20 and can be purchased online at www.adac.de, from any ADAC branch office, online at www.eventim.de or from one of the more than 20,000 Eventim outlets throughout Europe.