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The coming weekend (3rd/4th July 2015), Hockenheim will bear witness to the 7th and 8th races of the DMV GT and Touring Car Cup (DMV GTC) season. Over 30 vehicles will line up on the starting grids.
Fans are eagerly anticipating the 4th race weekend of the DMV GTC. Having started the race season in Hockenheim, and then raced at Oschersleben and the Red Bull Ring, the championship is now returning to the Grand Prix circuit in Baden-Wurttemberg. “This pack of drivers is looking very promising”, said race organiser Ralph Monschauer ahead of the next races. “We’ve got some dream sports cars lining up and many other highlights besides”.
The individual classes are full to the brim, and the primary concern of the drivers will once again be picking up important championship points. Once again Class 8 is predicted to be the strongest in the field. Class 8 contains only GT3 cars, which must strictly adhere to the Balance of Performance (BoP) regulations of the DMV GTC. So far this class has been favourably tipped more than 11 times – it’s almost impossible to resist the urge to give a prediction on which class will prevail, since some of the drivers will be aiming not just for victory in their own class, but also the overall victory of the race. This is precisely what Jürgen Bender (Corvette GT3) managed to do at the opening race of the season, as did Klaus Dieter Frers (Ferrari 458 GT3) at Oschersleben. Fans can look forward to seven different manufacturers – Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini and Porsche.
As well as the class consisting purely of GT3 cars, Class 10 also contains a few GT cars. This class has a weight limit of just 1,100kg, but aside from this there are no other technical limitations. Some of the cars in this class are absolute rockets off the line – they include the Chrysler Viper GTS-R, Porsche 997 GT2, Porsche 993 GT2, Ford GT GT3, and last but not least the only race-worthy Pagani Zonda, driven by Antonin Herbeck. The Czech driver won the first race in Oschersleben, and he is certainly a force to be reckoned with in Hockenheim. However Pertti Kuismanen (Viper) or Fritz K. (Porsche 997 GT2) will surely have something to say about that. They each won a race at the Red Bull Ring, and are both in with a shot of claiming an overall victory at Hockenheim. Another class to look out for because of its strong line-up is Class 7, which for the first time this season has been split into two groups, with the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup on one side and the Porsche 991 GT3 Cup on the other. Overall 11 cars are taking part in this category, among which are the current table-toppers Marcel Hartmann and André Krumbach (997), who will be fighting hard for every point. However there are plenty of competitors for them to reckon with, not least the winner of the Hockenheim Cup 2014, Kai Pfister, who is once again in with a good chance. Christoph Langer in the 991 is always in with a chance of victory, and this time he will not only be competing against his brother Thomas Langer, but also against Alexander Markin or Stefan Oschmann.
There are five Porsches starting in Class 9, meaning there’s a bit of a guessing game as to who is who. The 997 GT3, 996 RSR and 997 GT3 R are all represented. This group will likely be a tricky one to predict! At the Red Bull Ring Markus Alber emerged victorious. This time around he can expect pressure in abundance from the Finnish guest entrant Jorma Vanhanen, Peter Mamerow, Jesse James and Alois Rieder. As well as the exciting races, there is also the first appearance of the new Mercedes AMG GT3 to look forward to. The new car will be on display at Hockenheim for the first time in the context of DMV GTC.
Free practice will begin proceedings on Friday morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon when things will start to get serious. The qualifying sessions will decide the grid positions for both of the races on Saturday.
DMV GT and Touring Car Cup (DMV GTC)
Friday 3rd July 2015
11.20 - 11.40 Free practice (20 minutes)
14.25 - 14.45 Qualifying 1 (20 minutes)
17.00 - 17.20 Qualifying 2 (20 minutes)
Saturday 4th July 2015
10.05 - 10.35 Race 1 (30 minutes)
14.05 - 14.35 Race 2 (30 minutes)