An entry in the history books, two first-time winners, exuberant joy and last-minute outings at the festival of ADAC GT Masters and racing trucks at the International ADAC Truck Grand Prix. The paddock radar from the Nürburgring.

Maiden win for Fach Auto Tech

Swiss team Fach Auto Tech first lined up in the ADAC GT Masters in Oschersleben in 2011. Exactly 5193 days later – including a break from 2013 to 2023 – they have finally done it: Alexander Fach and Alexander Schwarzer presented the team with its first victory in the ADAC GT Masters at the Nürburgring. The joy among the team and drivers was overwhelming as Fach climbed out of his Porsche and passionately embraced his team members before celebrating wildly with Schwarzer. “Finally! Finally!” cried an overjoyed Alexander Fach, driver and son of the team principal. “We really deserved that. We have repeatedly come close, this season and last year, and now our hard work has finally paid dividends. The victory was really down to our fine performance and I am incredibly proud of Alex Schwarzer and our whole team.” Third place overall on Sunday and two successes in the Pro-AM Cup rounded off the perfect weekend.

Historic win for Ford

Finn Wiebelhaus and Salman Owega earned a place in the history books with victory in Sunday’s ADAC GT Masters race. This was the first triumph for the Ford Mustang GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters, and indeed the first victory in Europe. Their team-mates Max Reis and David Schumacher finished second to make it a one-two and a perfect day for Haupt Racing Team at its home event in the Eifel Mountains. The win also meant that the many fans of the American muscle car finally had cause to celebrate again. The last time Ford tasted victory in the ADAC GT Masters was back in 2013, when Frank Kechele and Dominik Schwager from Lambda Performance won in Hockenheim with the Ford GT. You have to go back even further for the most recent one-two before this year’s Nürburgring weekend: Marc Hennerici and Kenneth Heyer led home Thomas Mutsch and Jürgen von Gartzen from the Matech GT Racing team in Oschersleben in 2008.

Huge fan festival for the ADAC GT Masters and racing trucks

It was a dream weekend at the Nürburgring. Summery temperatures, sunshine, a great atmosphere, an attractive event programme, and enthralling racing from the ADAC GT Masters and the trucks at the International ADAC Truck Grand Prix. Over the course of the weekend, a total of 134,000 spectators travelled to the Eifel, where they enjoyed the attractions on the track, as well as many highlights off it and at the various evening events.

Team Joos Sportwagentechnik makes a guest appearance

Both a familiar face and a new face were to be found in the pit lane at the Nürburgring. Michael Joos and his Team Joos Sportwagentechnik made a guest appearance in the Eifel. Joining the 34-year-old behind the wheel was an ADAC GT Masters rookie: Felix Neuhofer. The Austrian may have a wealth of experience in motor racing, but he had never before driven a GT3 car at the Nürburgring. “I can learn an awful lot and gain valuable experience here. I am really happy with twelfth place in my first qualifying,” said Neuhofer. Together with Team Joos Sportwagentechnik and Michael Joos, he is hoping for more races in the ADAC’s GT3 series.

Last-minute outing for David Schumacher

David Schumacher had to demonstrate his spontaneity at the weekend. Niklas Kalus, team-mate of Max Reis at Haupt Racing Team, injured himself on the Track Walk on Friday evening and had to sit out the rest of the weekend. As a result, the team went in search of somebody to stand in at the last minute – and found Schumacher. “I received a phone call from Uli Fritz (team principal at HRT) at 8 o’clock on Saturday morning, asking me to please come to the Nürburgring and take over from Niklas in the cockpit,” explained the 23-year-old. He arrived in the Eifel seven hours later – just before the start of the race – and was thrown straight in at the deep end. “With the car drive and my stint, I basically had a double endurance race. It took a few laps to get used to the car, especially as it was my first time with Pirelli tyres on the Mustang. I made a bit of a mistake on the first lap, because I still had the old braking points in my head. After that, I made really good progress.” The last-minute start could hardly have gone better for Schumacher, who finished fourth on Saturday and second on Sunday.

Tom Astor leads the field on the formation lap

A very special passenger took his place in the lead truck for formation lap ahead of Saturday’s ADAC GT Masters race: Country music legend Tom Astor took the opportunity to swap his distinctive cowboy hat for a racing helmet. The singer has been a star of the German country music scene for decades, as well as a regular at the ADAC Truck Grand Prix. Having completed the 3.629-kilometre lap, Astor climbed out of the truck with a broad grin on his face.

Unique helmet design for Julian Hanses

Julian Hanses’ unique helmet design was particularly striking. While many drivers opt for elaborate images and many different colours, the FK Performance Motorsport driver decided on a very personal decoration. The black background was covered in countless signatures and personal messages from his family and friends. “In the run-up to the season, I was a little late getting my helmet sorted, and then I came up with this special idea,” said Hanses. “It doesn’t get any more personal than this.”

Night shift for Land-Motorsport

Just a few laps into Saturday’s race, the fun was over for Carrie Schreiner. Her Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 rolled to a stop with smoke billowing out of it. The diagnosis: engine damage. No problem for her team Land-Motorsport. However, the new engine did not play ball. “We finished installing the new engine at about 11:30 at night, but we noticed some irregularities and it was not running nicely,” said team principal Christian Land. “As such, many of the parts had to be removed and inspected.” Only at three in the morning were they finally able to call it a day. However, the work and many caffeinated drinks were worth the effort: Schreiner and her team-mate Alain Valente finished in the top ten on Sunday.