Home event at the Red Bull Ring for four drivers and two teams from Austria. Ferrari team Baron Motorsport makes a guest start in the ADAC GT Masters. Sunday’s race live on TV on Sport1, and all races on Joyn, ServusTV On and YouTube.
The long winter is finally over. This weekend, from 24th to 26th April, the ADAC GT Masters kicks off the 2026 season at the Red Bull Ring. This is the 16th time the GT3 series has lined up at the Formula 1 circuit – but the first time the Alpine track has hosted the opening round of the season. Tickets for the Austrian outing, which forms part of the DTM programme, start at € 49 and are available at dtm.com. The two ADAC GT Masters sprint races start at 15:10 on Saturday and Sunday. The Sunday race will be broadcast on free-to-air TV on Sport1, with coverage starting at 15:00. The programme will also include highlights of Saturday’s opening race. Furthermore, both races are available in a free livestream on Joyn, ServusTV ON and youtube.com/adacmotorsports.
Austrian festival in the ADAC GT Masters
For four drivers and two teams, the weekend at the Red Bull Ring is the first home outing of the season. Kiano Blum (18/Haupt Racing Team), Tim Hütter (19/Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport), Leo Pichler (24) and his Porsche team Razoon - more than Racing can look forward to the season opener in front of their home crowd – as can guest starters Baron Motorsport and their driver Ernst Kirchmayr (70).
This is the second season in the ADAC GT Masters for Pichler and Razoon. He and the team enjoyed a dream start to the 2025 season, winning two races at the opening event. The weekend at the Red Bull Ring also went to plan. “We finished third and made it onto the podium. I want to at least repeat that this year, and preferably do even better,” reveals Pichler, who comes from Weiz near Graz and probably has the shortest journey to the circuit. “Last year’s start to the season was brilliant, but that is in the past. I am delighted that there will be many Austrian spectators and fans at the opener. Hopefully they will have their fingers crossed for us.”
Rookie Kiano Blum from Fußach on Lake Constance will make his ADAC GT Masters debut in front of his home crowd. After many kilometres in the Ford Mustang GT3 over the winter and at the official test day at the Red Bull Ring, the 18-year-old feels well prepared: “I am really looking forward to the race weekend, and am trying to approach it as calmly and focussed as possible. That is when I am at my best.” His compatriot Tim Hütter is back in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2, with which he contested the second half of the 2025 season. “I am a big step closer to where I want to be, and have more trust in the car and many other aspects, in which I have made big improvements,” says Hütter from Gallneukirchen near Linz. The 19-year-old is not focussing on results, but on consistently improving his own performances.
Like last year, Baron Motorsport will also be at the Red Bull Ring as a guest starter in 2026. The Vienna-based team will run a Ferrari 296 GT3 in the Pro-AM Cup, with Ernst Kirchmayr and Axcil Jefferies (34/ZWE) at the wheel. Kirchmayr is a familiar face in the ADAC GT Masters and last year won the second race at the Red Bull Ring in this class. His team-mate Jefferies comes from Zimbabwe and was fourth in the ADAC Prototype Cup Germany in 2022.
The favourites at the Red Bull Ring
The Red Bull Ring is the fastest track on the ADAC GT Masters calendar. With three victories to its name, Schubert Motorsport is one of the most successful teams at the 4.318-kilometre circuit in Styria. The team, which lines up with twins Sandro and Juliano Holzem (21/Polch) at the wheel of a BMW M4 GT3 Evo, set the fastest time at the official tests in mid-April. With a total of six wins, BMW is the most successful active manufacturer in the ADAC GT Masters at the Grand Prix circuit in Austria.
That gives Leyton Fourie (20/ZAF/FK Performance Motorsport) a boost too. He once again shares his BMW M4 GT3 Evo with Tim Zimmermann (29/Langenargen), and the pairing that finished runner-up in last year’s championship is among the favourites again this season. “I definitely see that fact that we are being treated by many as favourites for the title as a great motivation. That obviously comes with big expectations, but I have great faith in our package and believe that we can meet those expectations. We know our mistakes from last year, and have resolved them,” says Fourie. “Our car looks really strong at the Red Bull Ring, but so do the Fords. It goes without saying that nobody has put all their cards on the table yet, so it is hard to judge exactly how good we are looking.”
Haupt Racing Team, the reigning champions in the Driver and Team competitions, will run three Ford Mustang GT3, which has received an Evo package for the new season. The team was victorious at the Red Bull Ring in 2025 and was in fine form again at the recent tests, clocking the third-fastest time. “The fact that we have the number 1 on the car is a sign of our ambitions. The goal is clear: We want to compete at the very top,” says Emil Gjerdrum (19/NOR).
