MUNICH, Germany — The ADAC GT Masters summer break concludes this coming weekend with the penultimate event of the season at the Salzburgring.
From September 4-6, the ADAC’s GT3 junior series will be hitting the gas on the classic track just outside Salzburg.
The Salzburgring is the venue for races nine and ten of the season in the fight for the championship. The situation couldn’t be more exciting.
The leaders, Felix Hirsiger (28/CHE)/Finn Zulauf (22/Königstein im Taunus/both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport) in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2, are just one point ahead of the BMW duo Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen)/Leyton Fourie (20/ZAF/both FK Performance Motorsport).
For the chasing pack, the Salzburgring proved a successful venue last year. Fourie secured pole position on Sunday, and the duo won the race after finishing sixth the previous day.
“Unfortunately, we had rain on the first race day, which isn’t the best condition for our car; otherwise, it probably would have been an even better weekend,” Fourie recalls. “The Salzburgring should suit us and our car well. Our goal is clear: we want to be at least as successful as last year and leave as championship leaders.”
With three season wins and another podium finish under their belts, the championship leaders travel to Austria. Zulauf arrives at the Salzburgring highly motivated, but anticipates a challenging weekend for himself and teammate Hirsiger. “We’ll have to wait and see how the races go.
However, the track should be one of the more difficult ones for our Lamborghini,” the 22-year-old admits frankly. “We’ll try to score solid points to stay in the championship fight. Our focus is on securing a good starting position for the final race at Hockenheim.”
Three local heroes from Austria will contest the second home race of the season, following the Red Bull Ring. One of them is Leo Pichler (24/AUT/Razoon – More than Racing). He has already celebrated a victory this season with his Porsche 911 GT3 R and is hoping for a strong home performance.
“It’s a real old-school track, very special and offering everything. You have long straights, slow corners, and fast corners. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, it will be extremely interesting, because it’s not easy,” explains the driver from Weiz. “We’ve already won at the Red Bull Ring, and I hope we can achieve a second home victory at the Salzburgring.”
The second driver in the group is Tim Hütter (19/AUT) from Gallneukirchen. This is his second season in the ADAC GT Masters. He, too, will be competing in a Lamborghini with the Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport. Kiano Blum (19/AUT/Haupt Racing Team) is also looking forward to racing in front of his fellow Austrians, albeit under more challenging circumstances.
Unlike his colleagues, the Ford driver hasn’t yet completed a single lap at the Salzburgring. “My team was already there last year, so we have data and videos that I’ll use to prepare as best as possible,” explained the driver from Fussach. He currently sits in third place in the championship standings, tied with Niklas Kalus (21/Duisburg).
The ADAC GT Masters is making its second appearance at the 4.255 km Salzburgring circuit. Of the twelve corners, one stands out: the paddock corner, which is taken at around 245 km/h and demands considerable courage.
Run-off areas are virtually nonexistent, so precision is paramount; otherwise, the drivers will find themselves in the gravel trap.
