This weekend the program at Circuit Zandvoort is packed: the ADAC GT Masters is a guest at the circuit. "This looks like classic touring car racing," says driver Nick Catsburg.
The race weekend already started on Friday, but will last until Sunday. The highlight is of course the GT3 cars from Audi, BMW, Corvette, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche. With 27 cars appearing at the start, the ADAC GT Masters is the strongest national GT3 competition in Europe. "The ADAC GT Masters weekend has become a good tradition on our circuit," says Erik Weijers of Circuit Zandvoort. "It is the first major event of the summer on our circuit. From 18 to 20 August we welcome the DTM, followed by the sixth edition of the Historic Grand Prix Zandvoort from 1 to 3 September. '
Derived from street cars
Why do we write about races with modern cars? The answer is simple. Driver Nick Catsburg, who is starting with a BMW M6 GT3: 'You used to have touring car races, with recognizable cars that were at the start - also at a high level. If you look at the first seasons of the DTM, for example, you saw BMW with the M635 CSi. Now a DTM car has nothing to do with a street car anymore, because the biggest difference between cars is in bodywork. With the ADAC GT Masters it is different, there you see cars that are really derived from the street cars. You can say: it will be my concern with which car I win, as long as I win. But I think it's nice that every manufacturer comes here with his own car. That makes it most like classic touring car racing. "
Incidentally, Catsburg does not only drive for BMW, but also for Volvo. 'This weekend I will start for BMW, but in the WTCC I will ride for Polestar Cyan Racing, as the team's official name is. But everyone calls it Volvo. "
Accessible
Catsburg is not the only Dutch driver this weekend. The ADAC GT Masters also include Indy Dontje (Mercedes-AMG GT3) and Renger van der Zande (Chevrolet Corvette C7 GT3-R). In ADAC TCR Germany, a class for production touring cars, Dillon Koster and Niels Langeveld both drive an Audi RS3 LMS, while Sebastiaan Bleekemolen drives the Clio Cup Central Europe.
Those who want to stick to classic (er) cars can look at the STT Special Tourenwagen Trophy H&R Cup, in which a mix of modern and older cars will compete. For example, the Dutchman Jan van Es drives a Porsche 993 GT2.
Who has nothing to do tomorrow (the program lasts from 9.00 to 16.15 hours) can take a look, because the event is accessible: dune tickets can be downloaded for free via circuitzandvoort.nl.
Photo: ADAC Motorsport