News from the ADAC GT Masters fixture at Most

04.05.2018 16:47

The Czech debut for the ADAC GT Masters provided some interesting news snippets.

First-time winners: The first four races of the season have already produced five new Super Sports Car League winners. In the season opener at Oschersleben, Audi drivers Max Hofer and Philip Ellis and Lamborghini driver Andrea Caldarelli registered maiden wins. At Most, it was the turn of Jeffrey Schmidt and Stefan Mücke (both Audi).

Woman power: In Sunday's race at Most, Claudia Hürtgen became the second woman to lift the Pirelli Trophy. She and her RWT partner Sven Barth in a Corvette currently top the standings in this particular classification after four races. The first woman to win in the Pirelli Trophy was Denmark's Christina Nielsen, who notched up five class victories in 2013.

Popular choice of venue: The reactions to the Czech debut of the ADAC GT Masters were overwhelmingly positive, and the drivers themselves were impressed by Autodrom Most. "This track is tremendous fun" was the unanimous verdict in the paddock. With more than 14,000 spectators coming through the gates, the event was also well attended.

New championship leaders: Two third places for the Porsche pairing of Mathieu Jaminet and Robert Renauer (Precote Herberth Motorsport) were enough to take them to the top of the 2018 ADAC GT Masters standings. This is the second time that Jaminet has led in the ADAC GT Masters: in 2017, he briefly occupied the top spot after winning the Saturday race in the season opener at Oschersleben. Team-mate Renauer also had a brief spell as championship leader in the 2017 campaign at the Lausitzring. Incidentally, that too was the second race weekend of the season.

On the up: After a difficult opening weekend to the season in which they scored zero points, defending champions Callaway Competition were relieved to have a much more successful time in the Czech Republic. Marvin Kirchhöfer and Daniel Keilwitz took second place in both races to earn the team's first championship points. The driver duo, who are sharing a cockpit for the first time in 2018, are third in the table after four out of 14 races.

Four-ringed success: In their debut season of 2017, BWT Mücke Motorsport fielded vehicles from two manufacturers, namely Audi and Mercedes-AMG. Although the Berliners were unable to register any victories with the R8 LMS, they triumphed twice with the Mercedes-AMG. On Saturday, Jeffrey Schmidt and Stefan Mücke secured a maiden victory for an Audi entered by this illustrious outfit. Schmidt's pole position was also the first for the team in the ADAC GT Masters.

Return to winning ways: Maximilian Götz and Mann-Filter Team HTP Motorsport have had to wait a long time for a victory in the ADAC GT Masters. The waiting was finally over on Sunday. The win which Götz shared with partner Markus Pommer was his first in the Super Sports Car League since the Lausitzring in 2014 and his fifth overall. HTP had been working towards victory number five in the ADAC GT Masters since Oschersleben in 2015. On that occasion, they scored the one and only win in the series for Bentley.

Jubilation in Lonsee: MRS GT-Racing have emerged from a long lean spell in the ADAC GT Masters. The team from Baden-Württemberg have failed to finish in the Top Ten since 2015. This year, the outfit run by Karsten Molitor is fielding a BMW M6 GT3 for the first time - a change that seems to be paying off. At Most, Christopher Zöchling and Jens Klingmann took fifth place on Saturday and were also in the points on Sunday with P10.

WEC opener: BWT Mücke Motorsport driver Stefan Mücke will be competing in the opening fixture of the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Spa this weekend. The Berliner will be driving a Ford GT. Also lining up for the six-hour race in Belgium is Porsche works driver Kévin Estre, who will be swapping his KÜS Team75 Bernhard 911 GT3 R for a 911 GTE prepared by the works team of the Stuttgart manufacturer.

Fast youngsters: Max Hofer and Philip Ellis managed to defend their lead in the Pirelli Junior classification at Most. However, the two victories in the classification for drivers under the age of 25 went to Saturday's overall winner Jeffrey Schmidt and to Alessio Picariello, also in an Audi, on Sunday. For Montaplast by Land-Motorsport driver Picariello, it was a maiden win in the Junior class.

Track record: Audi have consolidated their record as the most successful brand in the ADAC GT Masters with a 32nd victory. Corvette have 29 wins to their credit and Lamborghini 27.

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