Corvette with first best time in ADAC GT Masters season opener

• David Jahn quickest in FP1 at Oschersleben
• Lamborghini and Porsche best of rest
• Five different brands in top five places

Oschersleben: Corvette driver David Jahn (28, DEU, RWT Racing) set the first best time of the new ADAC GT Masters season. Small gaps between cars and five manufacturers occupying the top five positions hold the promise of an exciting start to the season at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. SPORT1 will broadcast the two races from Oscherleben live and in full on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 1.00 pm. Racing can also be followed online as livestream at sport1.de, adac.de/motorsport and youtube.com/adac.

Jahn, who shares the Corvette with Sven Barth (38, DEU), was 0.213 seconds faster than the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Rolf Ineichen (40, CH) and Frank Perera (35, F , Orange1 by GRT Grasser) in P2. “The first session went well, but I’m realistic and don’t want to read too much into it right now,” said Jahn, who is back in the ADAC GT Masters for the first time since securing the title of championship runner-up in 2016. “The result obviously makes me feel good, but basically, we still have a bit to do. We’re not quite where we would like to be as regards set-up, but I’m happy that things are going well with no problems. Long may it continue!”

With a deficit of 0.368 seconds, Timo Bernhard (38, DEU) and Klaus Bachler (27, A, both Küs Team75 Bernhard) in the best-placed Porsche 911 GT3 R took P3 from the first of a bunch of Audis, driven by Ricardo Feller (19, CH) and Dries Vanthoor (21, B, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport). The Ferrari 488 GT3 of Luca Ludwig (30, DEU) and Sebastian Asch (32, DEU, both HB Racing) finished fifth, ensuring that cars from five different brands took the top five places.

The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with Daniel Keilwitz (29, DEU) and Maxime Martin (33, B, both Propeak Performance) took 13th place and was immediately followed home by series newcomer, Fabian Vettel (20, DEU) and his partner Philip Ellis (26, GB, both Mann-Filter Team HTP) in the fastest Mercedes-AMG GT3. No less than 17 cars were covered by one second.

Nicolai Sylvest joins MRS GT-Racing
MRS GT-Racing were the last team to finalise their squad for the season. The team from Lonsee near Stuttgart is the only one in the Super Sports Car League to field the BMW M6 GT3 and have signed Nicolai Sylvest (21) from Denmark as their second driver. Sylvest took a pole position at the Nürburgring in 2018 and a second place at the Sachsenring and now joins Jens Klingmann (28, DEU).

Orange1 by GRT Grasser swap drivers round
Austrian outfit, Orange1 by GRT Grasser, swapped drivers around within the team just before the season opened. Christian Engelhart (32, DEU) will now partner Mirko Bortolotti (29, A). Franck Perera is Rolf Ineichen’s new team-mate. The all-Italian pairing of Michele Beretta (25) and Marco Mapelli (31) will race the third Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo fielded by Gottfried Grasser’s team.