Next weekend, the ADAC GT Masters drivers will be will be returning to Lausitz for the sixth and penultimate championship race weekend. The Corvette Team, Callaway Competition, really wants to strike at their second trip to the DEKRA Lausitzring and then travel to the Magdeburg Börde finale with two good finishes.

Ten exciting races are now behind the participants of the ADAC GT Masters series and, slowly but surely, the strongest national GT world championship series is turning into the home straight. With the sixth round of the season, the “League of Super Sports Cars” will return to the DEKRA Lausitzring this coming weekend, October 30 through November 1, before traveling to the season finale in the Motorsport Arena in Oschersleben just a week later.

The racetrack between Dresden and Cottbus Germany was inserted into the calendar at short notice and replaced the course in the dunes at Zandvoort. Due to the high number of Covid-19 cases in the Netherlands and the subsequent classification as a risk area, ADAC GT Masters officials decided to change the venue.

For the Corvette team, Callaway Competition from Leingarten in Baden-Württemberg, the goal for Lausitz is to get as many points as possible in order to improve its championship standings.
The longest-competing and most successful racing team and its two drivers Markus Pommer (29 / Heilbronn Germany) and Jeffrey Schmidt (26 / Liestal Switzerland) is currently in eleventh place in the championship standings. A total of 100 points is still up for grabs in the final sprint, and the Callaway Competition team wants to secure some of them.

Despite possible scenarios, the team has long since said goodbye to winning the championship. It’s just a reach too far. Instead, after a season marked with so many ups and downs, Mike Gramke’s team wants to give their all once again and secure a more realistic top-five.

In contrast to the start in August, this weekend, for the first time ever, the ADAC GT Masters racers are running the long version of the GP course with the extended pit wall in the first corner. The track is 4.570 meters long, making it the second longest racetrack of the year on the ADAC GT Masters racing calendar. Only the Hockenheimring is four meters longer. Due to the extended pit wall, the first turn has been made less severe for better overtaking opportunities.

The races will be held without spectators this weekend and will start later than usual: on Saturday and Sunday they will be broadcast live in Europe by SPORT1 from 3:00 PM (CET) local time, which is 10:00 AM (EDT) in the US. The races will also be livestreamed at sport1.de, adac.de/motorsport and youtube.com/adac. In addition, the callawaycars.com website has links to all ADAC GT Masters races.

“I think the Lausitzring is not a bad alternative to Zandvoort for us. At the season opener, we showed that we were able to keep up with the race leaders. Even if everything didn't go perfectly in August, the performance was in tune. The racetrack is now a good kilometer longer, but the characteristics of the track remain similar. The Lausitzring could be another chance to correct our difficult season a little. If our car is competitive again, and I’m assuming it will be, then we have a chance of finishing well in the points there. We have to concentrate and we can’t allow any more mistakes, and we still might end up fifth in the championship.” Jeffrey Schmidt (26 / Liestal Switzerland)

“It's great to be able to drive at the Lausitzring again this year. The start of the August race was exasperating with the crash where I unfortunately struck Robert Renauer and ended our day, through no fault of my own. Despite a good pace in the race, the weekend was over for us. I only have faint memories of the longer version of the racetrack when I was driving there in Formula 3. But I think that the current track will not be much different, basically, and we’ll be competitive again with the Corvette. The Corvette was doing very well on the track, which the times and the speed have shown. Let's hope that it doesn't get too cold and that the weather cooperates, then maybe we can have a say about a podium finish.” Markus Pommer (29 / Heilbronn Germany)

“First of all, congratulations to the ADAC. They were able to find a substitute for the race in Zandvoort at such short notice. A racetrack that we would all have liked to race with the new layout, but health has top priority and it was right to move the event. It’s just as important that we could all continue racing and finish the season with the planned number of races.” Mike Gramke (Team Boss)

ADAC GT Masters 2020:
30.10. – 01.11.2020 Lausitzring
06.11. – 08.11.2020 Motorsport Arena Oschersleben FINALE

Text: A.Dannenberg / Motorsport-Karriere.de
Foto: Axel Weichert