Paddock radar from the ADAC GT Masters in Hockenheim

• A visit from a former football international
• Haug, Theissen, Singer, Laudenbach: A host of motor racing greats attend the event
• New ADAC Formula 4 car presented

Football star in Hockenheim
Former German football international Cacau visited the German GT Championship in Hockenheim on Saturday, as a guest of the “Club of Champions” run by ADAC GT Masters partner herrenausstatter.de. The 40-year-old, who was a member of the VfB Stuttgart squad that won the German championship in 2007, gave the signal for the ADAC GT Masters field to start its engines ahead of the opening race. He then presented the trophies at the podium ceremony.

The crowning of a champion
Sim racing star Moritz Löhner was honoured in Hockenheim for his title win in the ADAC GT Masters eSports Championship powered by EnBW mobility+. The Dörr eSports driver, who has now completed a hat-trick of titles, received a cheque for € 10,000 from ADAC Sport Director Thomas Voss.

Racing legends pay a visit
A host of big names from the world of motorsport were at the circuit to watch the penultimate round of this season’s German GT Championship. Long-term Mercedes Motorsport Director Norbert Haug (68) was in Hockenheim, as was his former colleague at BMW Motorsport, the current ADAC classic advisor Prof. Dr. Mario Theissen (69). Also at the racetrack was Norbert Singer, who was a race engineer with Porsche for many years. Now 81 years old, he was involved in 16 victories for the Swabian manufacturer at the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 1970 and 1998. Norbert Vettel, father of four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian and ADAC GT4 Germany driver Fabian also made the trip to Hockenheim.

New Porsche motorsport director in attendance
Thomas Laudenbach made the ADAC GT Masters in Hockenheim his first port of call as the new head of Porsche Motorsport. The qualified engineer has been managing the motor racing department of the Swabian company since 1st October. Alexander Pollich, Managing Director of Porsche Deutschland GmbH, also visited the German GT Championship in Hockenheim, where he watched Dutchman Larry ten Voorde successfully defend his title in the final round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland.

In remembrance of Kurt Gewinnus
This weekend, the ADAC Formula 4 podium was adorned with the message “We miss you KUG”, in memory of Kurt Gewinnus. Gewinnus, who was actively involved in motorsport for decades and supported many top drivers, passed away in August. The founder of the KUG Motorsport racing team is a big name in motorsport, primarily through his role as team principal. His team was founded in 1975. Gewinnus and his team was one of the first teams to join the ADAC Formula Junior series when it was launched in 1991, and remained true to the junior Formula series right through to the current ADAC Formula 4 era. Under his leadership, drivers like eventual Formula 1 driver Ralf Schumacher were given their first experience in Formula racing.

Focus on Maro Engel and Toksport WRT
The latest episode of the video documentary “ADAC GT Masters Backstage live from the eBay Box” is all about Mercedes-AMG works driver Maro Engel (36/Monte Carlo) and Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT. The film crew of ADAC GT Masters partner eBay visited the racing driver in Monaco and took a look behind the scenes of the racing team, which is battling for the title in this year’s German GT Championship with Engel and Luca Stolz (26/Brachbach). The episode can be seen at https://youtu.be/Rc-KS5bMSGk.

The future of ADAC Formula 4
On Saturday, the ADAC used the German GT Championship in Hockenheim to present the car, with which talented youngsters will line up in ADAC Formula 4 from 2022. The most striking change is the halo roll bar, with which motorsport fans are already familiar from Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3. The new race car has 20 hp more power, as the Fiat Abarth engine now generates 180 hp. For the second generation of the car, ADAC Formula 4 continues to put its faith in the tried-and-tested technology package, with a chassis from Tatuus in Italy, a Fiat Abarth engine and Pirelli tyres.

Looking ahead to the 2022 season
Audi and BMW presented their new GT3 cars for 2022 in Hockenheim. The brand with the four rings displayed the R8 LMS GT3 evo II in the paddock, as well as its new TCR race car, the RS 3 LMS. The new BMW M4 GT3, which like the R8 will line up in next season’s ADAC GT Masters, also proved a real eye-catcher.

Carrera Cup to feature on the ADAC GT Masters programme again in 2022
Germany’s most iconic one-make cup, the Porsche Carrera Cup, will continue to share the bill with the ADAC GT Masters next season. The spectacular cup 911s will start as a partner series of the German GT Championship at six race weekends (Red Bull Ring, Zandvoort, Nürburgring, Lausitzring, Sachsenring and Hockenheim).

Study trip
Several groups of students, including from the Studentische Automobilverband and the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, visited the race weekend near Heidelberg. Roughly 90 young engineers were thrilled to be given an insight into what goes on behind the scenes of the German GT Championship.

New name
On November 4th, the streaming platform TVNOW.de, which streams all the races in the German GT Championship and its support series live, will be renamed RTL+. With up to 7 million users per month, RTL+ is by far the leading German entertainment offering on the streaming market. Fans of the ADAC GT Masters can still follow the qualifying sessions and races live and on repeat there. And there will be no change to the live coverage of the partner series ADAC GT4 Germany, ADAC TCR Germany and ADAC Formel 4. All the races from the whole season will also be available free on RTL+.