Paddock radar from the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring

• Rally world champion Sébastien Ogier at the Sachsenring
• Bob world champion Nico Walther on hand to support Mercedes-Benz pair Stolz/Götz
• Audi driver prepares for Mexican adventure

Ogier at the Sachsenring: For the third time this season, rally world champion Sébastien Ogier stopped by the ADAC GT Masters. This time, though, instead of lining up in an ADAC GT Masters car at the Lausitzring, Ogier took the weekend off after securing his 22nd win in the world rally championship in Australia last weekend. The Volkswagen works driver came to spectate accompanied by his wife, Andrea Kaiser, who presents the ‘ran Racing’ live broadcasts from the ADAC GT Masters on kabel eins.

Double shift: Six ADAC GT Masters drivers in all were putting in a double shift at the Sachsenring, lining up both in the Super Sports Car League and in the Porsche Carrera Cup. Christian Engelhart, Jaap van Lagen, Robert Renauer, Nicki Thiim, Wolf Nathan and Robert Lukas switched between the GT3 Porsche and the cup car. Thiim pulled off a master stroke: the Danish driver secured pole position for the Audi R8 in the ADAC GT Masters and in the Porsche Carrera Cup. This is the first time that the Porsche one-make cup and the EuroV8series have formed part of the ADAC GT Masters.

Bob world champion on hand to support Stolz and Götz: Luca Stolz and Maximilian Götz could count on some strong support at the Sachsenring. Nico Walther, junior two-man bob world champion, was invited to the Sachsenring by ADAC GT Masters sponsor Buchbinder Rent-a-car and wished the two Mercedes drivers good luck.

Patrick Simon steps on the gas: Patrick Simon, pundit for the ‘ran Racing’ live broadcasts from the ADAC GT Masters on kabel eins performed a double act with Jacques Schulz at the weekend. After Saturday’s first race at the ADAC GT Masters, Simon swapped microphone for steering wheel, travelling to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, where he lined up in a Ferrari 250 GT SWB. His trip to Belgium was rewarded with a victory in class. After the race, he travelled back to the Sachsenring early on Sunday morning in order to be back punctually at 11:45 in order to commentate on the second race along with Jacques Schulz.

Mexican adventure: Daniel Dobitsch is preparing for a special adventure. The Audi driver and his father are planning to line up in the legendary "Carrera Panamericana" rally at the end of the season. The father-son duo will line up in a classic Chevrolet Camaro in the one-week long rally that was part of the sports car world championship in the 50s and has now been revived. The roles in the team are clearly divided. Junior will drive the Camaro while his father will act as co-driver, reading out the pace notes.

Party at Schütz Motorsport: There was another reason to celebrate at Team GW IT Racing Team Schütz Motorsport apart from acknowledging the Porsche 911’s P2 in the first race, secured by Christian Engelhart and Jaap van Lagen, who is placed second in the standings. Team boss Christian Schütz celebrated his fortieth birthday on Saturday evening through to the early hours of Sunday morning along with his drivers and team to the strains of live music.

Warm-up in Chemnitz: In the run-up to the ADAC GT Masters weekend at the Sachsenring, Markus Winkelhock, Maximilian Götz and Philip Geipel beat the drum for the penultimate race weekend of the season. The three ADAC GT Masters drivers got the media representatives fired up for the race weekend at a press conference as they took questions at the Neumarkt in Chemnitz.