Jonathan Cecotto (26/VEN/Haupt Racing Team) set the fastest time in the ADAC GT Masters on Friday at the Hockenheimring. The Venezuelan, at the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT3, stopped the clock at 1:38.223 minutes and feels well prepared for the final weekend of the season. “I am obviously pleased to have gone fastest in practice. However, we all know that the opposition and ourselves will improve again on today’s performance, so you should not read too much into the times,” said Cecotto, who is not concerned by the rain that is forecast for Saturday’s race. “We are definitely prepared. I will take it as it comes and don’t bother looking at any forecasts beforehand. If I see drops on the windscreen, I will switch on the wipers.”
The day’s only practice session took place in dry conditions but under a cloudy sky and with temperatures around 14 degrees. Denis Bulatov (26/Scherer Sport PHX), a winner at the Red Bull Ring, took second place. His Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 missed out on the top time by 0.109 seconds. Alexander Fach (23/CHE/Fach Auto Tech) completed the top three. The Swiss, at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 R, was 0.136 seconds slower than Cecotto. Fellow Porsche racer Simon Birch (18/DNK/Razoon – more than racing) followed in fourth place, ahead of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jannes Fittje (26/Langenhain/SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm).
Championship leader Finn Wiebelhaus (19/Obertshausen/Haupt Racing Team) set a time of 1:28.506 minutes, which put his Ford Mustang GT3 in sixth place. The BMW M4 GT3 Evo of title rivals FK Performance Motorsport followed, with Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen) 0.444 seconds off the pace in eleventh place.
Qualifying for the opening race in Hockenheim takes place at 09:00 on Saturday and will be broadcast live at youtube.com/ADACMotorsports. The race follows at 15:05. Sport1.de, Joyn, ServusTV ON and Youtube.com will provide a free livestream. The race will also be replayed in full on TV station Sky Sport Mix from 23:45.
