ADAC GT Masters 2015: Let the racing begin

• Corvette sets fastest time in official pre-season tests at Oschersleben
• Successful dress rehearsal for impending season
• First proof of concept for ADAC GT Masters teams with new Pirelli tyres

Munich. The ADAC GT Masters is primed for action. The official pre-season tests for the Super Sports Cars League took place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the same venue that will host the first two races of the new campaign on the weekend of 24th to 26th April. The star turn during the two-day warm-up was new exclusive tyre partner Pirelli. In all, 18 of the 25 cars that have registered for the 2015 ADAC GT Masters took advantage of the six pre-season test sessions to familiarise themselves with the Italian-made tyres.

The most impressive performance in the dress rehearsal for the 2015 campaign came from Andreas Wirth (30) and Daniel Keilwitz (25) who set a time of 1:26.936 minutes on Thursday in their Callaway Competition Corvette – the fastest lap of the week – and who topped the timesheets in two of the six sessions. Keilwitz: “Our focus in this test was on familiarising ourselves with the Pirelli tyres. We tried various things, especially in regard to suspension tuning. We’re basically satisfied, but before the start of the season in two weeks, there are still some aspects we need to work on.”

The fastest laps in each of the six sessions were set by four different marques. The Corvette was best twice, as were the Audis of C.Abt Racing driven by defending champion Kelvin van der Linde (18) and Stefan Wackerbauer (19) in one session and by Andreas Weishaupt (42) and Christer Jöns (27) in the other. Also taking the honours were the new Mercedes-Benz specialists of HP Racing led by Hari Proczyk (39) and, in the final session, the MRS GT-Racing Nissan GT-R driven by Dominic Jöst (36) and Florian Scholze (41).

Kelvin van der Linde, who set the fastest time in the Audi R8 on Wednesday, was sounding happy after this first opportunity to size up the competition: “The Pirelli tyres make a very good impression. But for me, the great thing about this test was the perfect partnership with my new team-mate Stefan Wackerbauer. He posted some very fast times, which makes me very confident for the coming season.”

The new Bentley Continental attracted a lot of admiring glances. The two British-built power coupés entered by HTP Motorsport were put through rigorous testing ahead of the curtain-raiser event in around a fortnight. “We didn’t go on a chase for fast lap times,” said Luca Stolz (19) who has one of the two Continental cockpits. “Instead, we worked systematically on our race performance, so we put in quite a few long runs.”

Also expressing satisfaction was Rahel Frey (29) who will be sharing a YACO Racing Audi R8 with Philip Geipel (28) for the second year in succession: “We’ve spent two days working very constructively and have made good progress. Of course, the main priority was getting to know the new Pirellis. The tyre seems to be very sensitive and gives the driver excellent feedback. That’s not only good for us professionals but should also be to the liking of the gentlemen drivers. There wasn’t a great deal of difference between the lap times during the test, so that bodes well for some exciting racing this year.”

Testing for Schubert Motorsport in their BMW Z4s this week were Claudia Hürtgen (43), Dominik Baumann (22), Jens Klingmann (24) and Uwe Alzen (47). The 47-year-old is embarking on his first full ADAC GT Masters season with the Oschersleben-based team. “I had plenty of driving practice on Thursday afternoon,” said Alzen. “I tried out a new set of tyres and put in a nice long run, both of which were very good. I watched the ADAC GT Masters on TV on several occasions last year, and I’m looking forward to the first race here in two weeks.”

The Nissan GT-R acquitted itself well at Oschersleben, with Florian Scholze setting the fastest time in the final session. Florian Strauss (30), who will be driving one of two MRS GT-Racing Nissans in the ADAC GT Masters, was in buoyant mood after the test: “We were faster than expected on both days. The track characteristics at Oschersleben do not necessarily suit our car, so our good performance here has given us confidence for the upcoming season. However, a test is by no means a race. The first race in two weeks’ time should be really exciting.”

Combined best times from the ADAC GT Masters test at Oschersleben

1. Wirth/Keilwitz (Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), 1:26.936 mins (Session 4)
2. Van der Linde/Wackerbauer (C.Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), 1:27.096 mins (Session 3)
3. Lee Pepper/Thiim (C.Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), 1:27.388 mins (Session 4)
4. Klingmann/Alzen (Schubert Motorsport, BMW Z4 GT3), 1:27.460 mins (Session 3)
5. Weishaupt/Jöns (C.Abt Racing, Audi R8 LMS ultra), 1:27.535 mins (Session 3)
6. Sandström (kfzteile24 MS RACING, Audi R8 LMS ultra), 1:27.535 mins (Session 3)
7. Proczyk/Simonsen (HP Racing, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3), 1:27.537 mins (Session 4)
8. Jöst/Scholze (MRS GT-Racing, Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3), 1:27.654 mins (Session 1)
9. Assenheimer/Alessi (Callaway Competition, Corvette Z06.R GT3), 1:27.738 mins (Session 4)
10. Hürtgen/Baumann (Schubert-Motorsport, BMW Z4 GT3), 1:27.844 mins (Session 4)