German Mercedes team Car Collection Motorsport wins first edition of Hankook 12H ZANDVOORT

Written on 02 June 2014.

ZANDVOORT (May 31, 2014) – The first edition of the Hankook 12H ZANDVOORT finished with a fantastic victory for the No. 33 Car Collection Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, driven by Peter Schmidt, Christian Bracke, Mirko Schultis and local hero Renger van der Zande. The team won the race at Circuit Park Zandvoort after an exciting battle in the opening hours with the No. 9 Scuderia Praha Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia .

After three fantastic opening hours of the race on Friday, the Hankook 12H ZANDVOORT resumed on Saturday with a very interesting GT fight in the A6 class. Where it was first the No. 2 Hofor Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (Michael Kroll/Roland Eggimann/Kenneth Heyer/Christiaan Frankenhout/Maximilian Buhk) leading the race, it was the No. 9 Scuderia Praha Ferrari 458 GT3 (Jiri Pisarik/Jaromir Jirik/Peter Kox) that took over the lead in the fifth hour. But it didn’t take long for the No. 33 Car Collection Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (Peter Schmidt/Christian Bracke/Renger van der Zande/Mirko Schultis) to charge to the first position in the sixth hour. In the ninth hour the Scuderia Praha Ferrari managed to fight back in the lead, thanks to a successful pit stop strategy. Unfortunately, a few laps later, the Ferrari was involved in an incident, which forced the team to retire from the race. After the retirement, the No. 33 Car Collection Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS took over the lead, which it kept until the chequered flag. The No. 2 Hofor Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 finished in second place, just before the No. 3 Car Collection Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 (Johannes Dr. Kirchhoff/Gustav Edelhoff/Elmar Grimm).

Home race in ADAC GT Masters for flying Dutchmen

Written on 07 May 2014.

Four Dutchmen in Zandvoort ADAC GT Masters line-up: Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter Kox, Jaap van Lagen and Wolf Nathan.

The ADAC GT Masters is looking forward to returning to Zandvoort and four local drivers are raring to go in their home race. Former DTM driver Jeroen Bleekemolen (32, NL / Callaway Competition), Porsche ace Jaap van Lagen (37, NL / GW IT Racing Team / / Schütz Motorsport), ex-ADAC GT Masters champion Peter Kox (50, NL / Reiter Engineering) and Gentlemen driver Wolf Nathan (45, NL / IT GW IT Racing Team // Schütz Motorsport) all intend to use their home advantage to secure a good result on home turf. Whilst the two ADAC GT Masters races at the former Formula 1 track in the North Sea dunes constitute a home race for them, there is, however, also the question of deciding who is top dog as far as the Dutchmen are concerned.

ADAC GT Masters comeback in the Netherlands

Written on 07 May 2014.

ADAC GT Masters to line up on Zandvoort track in the dunes

First foreign leg of 2014 ADAC GT Masters season

Sand, sea, wind and a strong field in the North Sea dunes with supercars that can pump out as much as 650bhp - the ADAC GT Masters is gearing up for its return to the Netherlands next weekend (May 9th-11th) after a spectacular season opener at the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. The Super Sports Car League returns to the challenging Zandvoort race track set among the dunes of the North Sea after a one-year break. The second race weekend of the season will take the ADAC GT Masters to the well established track north of Amsterdam for the first of three sets of races to be staged outside of Germany this year.
Key facts, Circuit Park Zandvoort / NL, Races 3 und 4

Track length: 4,320 metres
Layout: 13 turns, racing in clockwise direction
Winners 2012 Race 1: Diego Alessi/Daniel Keilwitz (Corvette Z06.R GT3)
Winners 2012 Race 2: Simon Knap/Jeroen den Boer (BMW Z4 GT3)
ADAC GT Masters from Zandvoort live on TV: Both races from Zandvoort will be broadcast live and in full on Saturday and Sunday by kabel eins in ran Racing magazine, beginning at 11:45 am.
Who will win this first ADAC GT Masters event to be held on foreign soil in 2014?

Corvette and BMW shared the spoils of victory as the ADAC GT Masters debuted at Zandvoort in 2012. Despite the BMW Z4´s excellent showing two years ago, Claudia Hürtgen (42, Germany / PIXUM Team Schubert), who is the most successful lady driver in the series, thinks that there are any number of favourites for the two races: "Our BMW Z4 was excellent in Zandvoort two years ago, but much has happened in the meantime and I´m dying to see how things ultimately turn out in Zandvoort."

ADAC GT Masters title defender Diego Alessi (42 Italy / Callaway Competition) also has fond memories of the classic circuit. He secured a race win two years ago in the Netherlands and lines up this season in a Corvette with Patrick Assenheimer (22, Germany). "I really like Zandvoort. Fast, long drawn-out turns, old kerbstones, tarmac with plenty of grip, traditional pit buildings and small run-off areas to boot - that´s just how a race track ought to be. Since the circuit is just next to the North Sea, you must always keep an eye on the weather, because conditions by the sea can change in an instant, as everyone knows."