Cars and Related Journeys: GT Masters

The first Race for me to visit this Season.

I have never been in the Czech Republik. No Idea what to expect, but it has been a pleasent Trip.

The Track is situated not far from the german Border. And sits in the middle of an Open Pit Mining Area.

From just around the corner of my Hotel Zamek Cerveny Hradek, you can see the mining area in the distance.

And just on the other site of the Mine Pit is the circuit located.

Therefore I dont want to know on what kind of debris the track has been built.

But, when you choose the right camera position, nobody has to know what so ever.

So a nice picture of a beautiful track under a nice sun and in the back ground a Castle that reminds me of the Castle of Nurburg. As a matter of fact. The complete track layout, looks like the GP Track of the Nurburgring.

But it sure lacks parkingspace for the visitors. This is the parking lot on thursday.

That made me buy on beforehand a ticket for a campingplace just 200mtr. further down the road. There I had a great spot for the next 3 days.

Friday was already a full day of driving for all teams. With the main event for the GT-Masters

Here we spot Dutch Driver Indy Dontje just before he has to go his driverseat. He looks very happy. Did he get a pay rise?

Well, perhaps. But definately a decent cup of coffee!

The Garages are unfortunately rather privat. All doors well kept closed down, or the cars are hidden by pit walls.

But at the Track it is all well organized for the visitors. And the Czechs sure like a decent meal.

And so do I!

Big fun for the Fans is always the pitwalk. With lots of give a way items, Autographs and photo moments.

But it is in the End all about Racing.

Unfortunately, Most isnt a Track where the fast GT3 cars can easily overtake. The only real place where it could happen is at the first hairpin after the straight. And just after the start.

https://www.facebook.com/100015627195199/videos/309189656278605/

And after the start, the Porsche of Kevin Estre, that had been strugling all weekend, remained behind.

But that doesnt mean overtaking is absolutely impossible. In the Skoda RS race, overtaking was all included.

And when Race Day is over, Drivers rush to their rental cars, the teams hurry to put down their Tents and pack up their gear.

Only Timo Scheider takes his moment, to watch the start again.

And if you are a professional GT-Masters driver or a Skoda Octavio club racer, they all deserve a drink after.

A great weekend, great crowd, great races and beautiful weather.

See you all next time!

From October 2 till 6 I spend a short holiday in Germany. I stayed in a nice family Hotel located in the outskirts of Heidelberg. I chose this place for the close vicinity to the Hockenheim Circuit.

October 3, I drove a scenic route: the Schwartzwaldhochstrasse. The romantic views are very special. The driving was less so. As it turned out October 3 is a holiday in Germany to remember the "Tag der deutschen Einheit". Therefore it was very busy with people just enjoying the drive or on their way to the Black Forest. Another annoying aspect of the Schwartzwaldhochstrasse is, that all the small towns are close to one another, so there is no possibility to make some speed and enjoy the corners.

In the romantic town of Kappelrodeck I had coffee and real Blutwurst (One of my Ideosyncrasaties).

The next two Days I visited the Hockenheim Circuit. The main race this weekend was the final race of the Season for the ADAC GT Masters. But there were also spectacular races among others the ADAC Formel Masters, Euro V8 Series and the ATS Formel 3 Cup.

This weekend was the final weekend for the ADAC Formel Masters Series, because of next year it will be replaced with the Formula 4. But the Drivers all gave their best performance up to the last lap of each race.

Start of the Race on Saturday with 1 minut to go.

For some drivers the track is never wide enough.

Will this boy be dreaming of a race career tonight?

Close racing on Sunday as well.

This weekend saw also the final race of the Euro V8 Series. A Serie that originated in Italie a few years ago but then spread its wings over the rest of Europe.

Here on the left the Chevrolet Camaro of Italian Driver Francesco Sini.

During practice chechoslovakian Audi RS 5 driver Tomas Kostka had an accident but his team was able to repair the car for the start on Sunday.

And next morning the Italian Audi crew woke the car up from a chilly night.

With only a dozen cars on the grid it looked to become a boring race. But that all changed, when Kostka and Sini put on a real race for the Championship.

This fight was won by Sini, when Kostka's rear right tire exploded after heavy brake issues.

Kostka ended the race still in 5th place. And lost the Championship to Sini with only 1 point between them.

As Intermezzo there was a drift show.

It was also the final weekend for the ATS Formula 3 Cup.

Here we see Dutch Driver Indy Dontje explaining some of the features of Formula 3 to Dutch invitees.

Dontje ended all 3 races in second place and won the Rookie Championship.

A look litteraly behind the scenes when we see the Flags being raised and lowered.

Between the races was also a Parade of Historic Monoposto Cars.

Here we see some of them in the Paddock.

And then there was the Seasons Final GT Masters with 2 races. One on Saterday and one on Sunday.

Dutch Driver Jaap van Lagen had a small change of winning the Title but stopped less than one second too short during the obligatory driver change. The Stop and Go Penalty sat him back to far back in the field to endanger the Championship victory for the Audi R8 of German Rene Rast and South African driver Kelvin van der Linde.

Here we see BMW Driver Claudia Hurtgen discussing Data with an engineer.

Lap 1 of the Saturday Race.

Lap 1 of the race of Sunday.

Finally the Cars can cool down. We see the Porsche of van Lagen- Christian Engelbert, the Corvette of Daniel Keilwitz-Andreas Wirth and in the back the Audi R8 of Rast and van der Linde.

The crowd attending is really a fan of Motorsports. Many stayed until the last contender finished under a round of Applause.

On my way back from Heidelberg to Amsterdam I stopped over at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Often there is the possibility for amateurs to just by a Ticket and drive the track. This track is part of the German Road. Therefore, when the track is open for Tourist Rides, all Drivers have to obey the German Traffic Code.
When I arrived the circuit was still closed due to foggy weather, but later the track was opened and everybody drove off.