Final races this weekend at Hockenheim for the DTM and ADAC GT4 Germany Series
Whilst it has been an eight-round double header undertaking for the mostly twenty-four strong GT3 powered grid of the DTM Series, the numbers of participants within the supporting GT4 Germany Series has fluctuated a bit over their five previous rounds but this final weekend will again see both Comtoyou Racing AMR Vantage GT3’s within DTM and the Eastside Motorsport and pair of Prosport Racing Vantage GT4’s with the ADAC series.
For the #7 and #8 Comtoyou Racing entries of Gilles Magnus and Nicolas Baert, the introduction into the ultra-competitive nature of the DTM Series has been a very steep learning curve for both the drivers and team as they stepped up to the series for the first time this year onto top of all their other racing commitments this season.
Whilst the year certainly did not start off well for either car, more recent performances (and indeed the series releasing the Vantage GT3 a bit more in terms of available Balance of Performance) has seen more encouraging signs that has lead the team to already commitment to the series for next season.
A P3 qualifying performance from Magnus ahead of race one at the Red Bull Ring last time and another earlier on at the Nurburgring togther with a P7 result in the second race of that round have been the team’s best results to date, so doing better than that at Hockenheim will be a true driving force to finish the year upon something of a high.
Within the ADAC GT4 Germany Series, it’s been something of a disappointing season for the two full season Prosport Racing entries of Anton Abee and Marek Bockmann aboard their #17 car and former series champion Hugo Sasse alongside Roman Fellner-Feldegg in their #19 car as consistency certainly departed them this season.
Still as equally competitive as the series always has been, the two older 16A variants of the Aston Martin have struggled against new machinery from other OEM’s, something that was quickly highlighted with the return mid-season of the Eastside Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 Evo of Jan Philipp Springob and Storm Gjerdrum.
Still as equally competitive as the series always has been, the two older 16A variants of the Aston Martin have struggled against new machinery from other OEM’s, something that was quickly highlighted with the return mid-season of the Eastside Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 Evo of Jan Philipp Springob and Storm Gjerdrum.
Their #4 car quickly impressed at their series introduction at the Nurburgring where they qualified for their first race in third and finished sixth whilst both Prosport crews have also enjoyed pole positions (like the #4 crew went on to have) both have only gone on to only follow that up in later races/rounds with more lowly finishes.
With nothing more than pride to race for for the Prosport crews (and the ESM crew still be listed as a non-points scoring guest entry), the pressure will be off around the fast and furious Hockenheimring this weekend for their final two, hour long races.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Wednesday, October 01, 2025 |
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Another mixed bag for the three Aston Martin runners in ADAC GT4 Germany
Fortunately missing much of the rain that blighted the headlining DTM Series on Saturday, it was the #4 Eastside Motorsport AMR Vantage GT4 Evo of Jan Philipp Springob who took pole position for race one whilst the two Prosport Racing AMR entries of Roman Fellner-Feldegg was P7 in his #19 car whilst the #17 car of last time out pole setter Marek Bockmann was P10.
Springob held and maintained the lead through the opening laps and immediate Safety Car period to be able to hand the car over to co-driver Storm Gjerdrum with a to second lead. Initially extending that race lead to nearly six seconds, the young Norwegian was eventually caught and passed with just minutes to go to eventually finish third on track.
A post-race penalty for the #4 car for repeated contact with another on the final lap saw the #4 eventually be placed in fifth with the #17 car of Hugo Sasse in P10 and Anton Abee P18 in the #19 car.
Race two on Sunday went much the same was but this time had the #19 upon pole position and the #4 car a little further back in fourth and the #17 car in twelfth.
With Sasse holding the lead and Gjerdrum having to run very wide at times to maintain position, the #17 car of Abee was getting a lot of unwanted attention from other cars within the midst of the pack which saw cars make contact with the green Aston Martin.
Sasse soon lost the race lead and was down to fourth just ahead of the pit stop window as the #4 and #17 cars pitted early but the ESM’s day would again end early (like at the Nurburgring last time out) as technical issues brought their car to a standstill.
For the Prosport Racing contingent, race two also unfortunately fizzled out into another disappointing finish with the #19 eventually finishing P12 and the sister car P15.
Next stop will be the Red Bull Ring in mid-September.
Photo credits – ADAC
Photo credits – ADAC
Sunday, August 24, 2025 |
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Three Aston Martin Vantage GT4s for teh ADAC GT4 Germanys visit to the Sachsenring this weekend
Like the Nurburgring, we again welcome back the three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s crews from both the Prosport Racing and Eastside Motorsport teams after one car from each team visited the podium at the end of one race last time out.
The #17 Prosport Racing AMR of Marek Bockmann and Anton Abee struggled in race one on Saturday but came back to convert their pole position for race two on Sunday into a P2 finish for their efforts whilst the hardship of their opposite #19 crew of Hugo Sasse and Roman Fellner-Feldegg sadly continued with further DNF’s in both races after further car related issues.
The big surprise came from the #4 Cosy Racing with ESM AMR Vantage GT4 Evo crew of Jan Philipp Springob and Storm Gjerdrum after the young Norwegian (Gjerdrum) claimed a second row start for race 1 first time out in the series before converting that to an overall P7 finish but a Rookie win for Gjerdrum. That early run of success was sadly blighted by technical troubles of their own on Sunday which saw them unable to post a qualifying time and ultimately unable to complete the race.
Technical issues hopefully sorted by all concerned, the Sachsenring is a firm favourite of the Prosport Racing team, so fingers crossed for all three crews.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 |
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A highly eventful GT4 Germany Series weekend sees two AMR crews of the podium
For this third round of the season, we welcomed the Eastside Motorsport team to the series with one of their Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 Evo’s to complete alongside the two older 17A iterations from the locally based Prosport Racing team and for much of the first half to the racing programme, it was the crew of the #4 ESM AMR who were leading much of the charge although not having it all their own way.
In Free Practice 1 it was the #4 car of Jan Philipp Springob and Storm Gjerdrum who lead the timing screen before the full season entrants Anton Abee and Marek Bochmann did similar with a P2 in FP2. Come Q1 on Saturday, however, these two Astons plus the #19 Prosport car of Hugo Sasse and Roman Fellner-Feldegg had locked out three of the top five starting positions with the #4 car again highest in P3.
The opening lap to the first hour long race were the usual frenetic ones customary of any decent GT4 based series with both the #4 and #19 Astons battling for the early podium-based positions as the race finally settled.
An early Full Course Yellow for debris then showed the first signs of frailty within the #19 car of Sasse as he struggled to pick up pace at the restart and slowly dropped positions going into the pit stop window. Whilst Fellner-Feldegg would get a couple of racing laps in, his demise was shown struggling to slow the car into turn one where it was soon parked behind the armco for another racing retirement.
Whilst the other two Astons did continue, the early P3 running pace of the #4 ESM car was blighted within pit lane as they lost three clear positions having to be pushed back because of the car pitting in front blocking their path but they would recover to finish ultimately P7 overall, capturing a Rookie race win for the sixteen-year-old Gjerdrum and a P9 finish for the #17 Prosport car.
Those positions would be reverse in Q2 as first the #4 ESM car suffered technical issues not to post any representative times whilst Bochmann would secure his first pole position of the year in his #17 car with its sister #19 car a distant P12.
Early drama’s in race 2 saw the #19 get involved within the usual turn one incidences and contact whilst the #17 car ran wide at turn two next time around to lose the race lead having held a decent gap across the line for the first time whilst the #4 car was already up to P18.
That charge from the #4 car however ended on just the fourth lap with (presumably) a reoccurrence of their earlier technical gremlins whilst the #19 car was also giving away positions based upon their apparent lack of race pace again.
As the pit window opened, Fellner-Feldegg was still hanging in there and Bockmann was back up to P3 after his earlier mistake and with Abee increasing that to a P2 position on his outlap.
With fifteen minutes to go, the #19 AMR was again pulled over but with broken front suspension for its second DNF of the weekend, but its sister car managed to hang on to take a P2 finish at what became the chequered flag after the race was red flagged with just under three minutes to go because of an issue with the track surface.
The Series will now move onto the Sachsenring at the end of the month.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Sunday, August 10, 2025 |
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Three Vantage GT4 crews this time as the GT4 Germany Series moves onto the Nurburgring
This is firstly the two Prosport Racing full season entries of both Marek Bockmann/Anton Abee aboard their #17 car and Hugo Sasse/Roman Fellner-Feldegg in their #19 car but this time they will be joined by the returning Eastside Motorsport team and their #4 Vantage GT4 Evo for drivers Jan Philipp Springob and Storm Gjerdrum.
Not seen since the end of last season (apart from a few private track days) when the ESM team ran both Jan Marschalkowski and Phillip Gogollok, it is hoped that the team will feature within the series for its closing four rounds.
Last time out in the series at the Norisring back in early July, that saw the #17 car fail to finish within either race, despite a P2 qualifying position in race one whilst their sister car had just a lowly P13 finish in race one before failing to finish themselves in the second.
Those results see the faster #19 crew fall further adrift from the so far pace setting Mercedes AMG GT4 crew ahead of each of the two, one-hour races available again this window over the weekend as the series again supports the DTM Series.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Wednesday, August 06, 2025 |
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Prosport Racing back for only the second round of GT4 Germany this weekend
After nearly a five-week break since their opening round of the season from Oschersleben, the GT4 Germany Series is back in town this weekend ahead of its next two, hour long races around the Norisring.
The provisional entry list for this weekend again shows the two Prosport Racing Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s amongst its twenty-one-car entry with Anton Paul Abee and Marek Bockmann again within the #17 alongside the #19 car of Hugo Sasse and Roman Fellner-Feldegg.
Last time out didn’t get off to a great start for the #17 crew as Abee was sidelined for the opening race of the season with illness before being able to make a return to the car for the second round where they managed a credible P6 overall finish.
The #19 of former series champion Sasse and AMR GT4 newcomer Fellner-Feldegg ran better to claim both pole position for race one before finishing P3 overall in the race to back that up again in race two with a P2 finish in that.
Despite these results, they still trail the leading #11 Mercedes AMG GT4 crew by fourteen points after they claimed race wins within both races.
Track action for this series will begin on Friday with two Free Practice sessions before moving into Qualifying 1 on Saturday morning for the first race later in the day before a repeat of the same process on Sunday.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Wednesday, July 02, 2025 |
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Aston Martins go two by two in both DTM and GT4 Germany at Oschersleben
Starting off at the higher level sees the Belgian based Comtoyou Racing team finally make their anticipated start within the DTM Series with their two AMR Vantage GT3 Evo’s for both Gilles Magnus and Nicolas Baert.
Diversifying out from their usual European based GT series this season will see the team embark upon an eight-round season across circuits in Germany, Austria and Holland. Featuring twenty-four cars for this opening round, the solo driven cars will compete within a one-hour race over both Saturday and Sunday.
The competition within the series will again be very tough.
Supporting this series will again be the ADAC GT4 Germany Series who themselves kick off their six-round season from Oschersleben with again, two Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4’s from the Prosport Racing team.
This sees the Christoph Esser lead team run a double programme this weekend with the NLS2 event from the Nurburgring with the former champion Hugo Sasse into the equation.
Again running a pair of the older but very successful 17A variants of the Vantage, Sasse will pair with Roman Fellner-Feldegg as they did for the final round of the GT4 Winter Series at Barcelona earlier this year with former team GT3 racer Marek Bockmann pair up with relative GT4 newcomer Anton Abee.
They too will race an hour-long pit stop punctuated race over both Saturday and Sunday.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 |
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Back to the ADAC GT4 Germany Series for a Prosport Racing two car effort
This news sees former and multiple GT4 Germany Series champion Hugo Sasse back behind the wheel of one of Christoph Esser’s older 17A variant of the Vantage GT4 alongside that of Roman Fellner-Feldegg.
The second car sees one of the team’s more regular Nurburgring Langstrecken Serie racers Marek Bockmann swap the team’s Vantage GT3 in favour of the GT4 to pair up with Anton Abee within the sister car.
Both Fellner-Feldegg and Abee have already seen racing action together after the team entered a Vantage GT4 for them within the final round of the GT4 Winter Series from Barcelona at the beginning of March.
Both Fellner-Feldegg and Abee have already seen racing action together after the team entered a Vantage GT4 for them within the final round of the GT4 Winter Series from Barcelona at the beginning of March.
This news comes alongside their three car AMR entry within the NLS as previously confirmed.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Tuesday, April 08, 2025 |
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ADAC GT Masters and GT4 Germany round off the year at Hockenheim
The final round of the ADAC GT Masters Series finished this weekend at the Hockenheimring certainly at lot better than the season had started for them for at least one half of the Walkenhorst Motorsport entry.
Rounding off this weekend sixth and final double header of the season it was again the pair of Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3’s from the Walkenhorst stable who represented the British marque within the seventeen strong entry.
Mike David Ortmann and Denis Bulatov again paired within the #34 car whilst Chandler Hull and Nico Hantke again paired the team’s #35 Pro-Am entry, and it was that pairing who rounded off this final race weekend best with a final pair of P2 class finishes at the end of each of Saturday and Sunday’s hour-long races.
Unfortunately, too little too late for this pairing as both crews finished the year within the mid table of the overall results.
Unfortunately, too little too late for this pairing as both crews finished the year within the mid table of the overall results.
It was something of a similar thread from within the supporting ADAC GT4 Masters Series which also concluded this weekend but with another AMR Vantage GT4 pairing to add to the season long #55 Zakspeed with ESM Motorsport entry.
The other half of the then reigning ADAC GT4 Germany Championship crew in Hugo Sasse (other half was Mike David-Ortmann) paired up again with his former GT4 European Series co-driver in Raphael Rennhofer and that caused something of a stir between the outgoing 17A variant of the Vantage GT4 of the #1 Prosport Racing entry and the new 2024 #55 Zakspeed entry.
Whilst the #55 crew have apparently been ‘plagued’ with technical issues (particularly with braking) within their new car, the #1 crew were able to arrive and drive to two front row starts over this weekend (Pole position on Sunday) and convert both in podium finishes whilst the Zakspeed crew could offer no higher than P8 over the weekend.
Neither sets of results impacting much upon the remaining championship battles as Zakspeed drivers Philipp Gogollok and Jan Marschalkowski finished the year tenth overall and ninth within the Team’s Championship.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Sunday, October 20, 2024 |
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Walkenhorst not so fortunate with the ADAC GT Masters Sprint race from Spa yesterday
Having enjoyed an overnight Balance of Performance weight reduction overnight and having qualified their two cars onto the front two rows of the eighteen-car strong grid, it was trouble again at the opening corner the hurt the pace setting #35 Pro-Am car of Nico Hantke and Chandler Hull.
Having qualified in second, Hantke aimed for the wider line going into La Source compared to that of the pole setting Ferrari but contact from behind with the pole car spun them around and (unfortunately) directly into the path of the #35 car.
Avoiding the trouble, however, was the #34 Walkenhorst car of Mike David Ortmann and Denis Bulatov who assumed the race lead going down the hill into Eau Rouge for the first time and whilst Hantke did get going again, an apparent tyre/wheel/hub failure eventually sent their effort spinning off into the tyre wall for an immediate DNF and Safety Car.
The #34 car was then under investigation for a false start earlier (and awaited his fate with the penalty box) whilst the ten-minute clean-up process was underway whilst the two Prosport Racing AMR Vantage GT3 entries of Jamie Day and Hugo Sasse consolidated an improved starting position of P12 and P13 respectively.
Sure enough, that penalty was confirmed for Ortmann breaking ranks before the start line which would drop his car down to eighth was served just ahead of the opening on the compulsory ten-minute pit stop window.
Sure enough, that penalty was confirmed for Ortmann breaking ranks before the start line which would drop his car down to eighth was served just ahead of the opening on the compulsory ten-minute pit stop window.
Driver changes underway and Raphael Rennhofer quickly came to the attention of Race Control as his #27 swap from Sasse was deemed to be under the minimum delta time earning himself a visit to the penalty box which would eventually place them well behind their sister #37 Prosport Racing car of Hendrik Still.
A near miss for two cars tangling at the bottom of Eau Rouge saw them avoid both the barriers and other cars to help raise the #34 car up another couple of position going into the final ten minutes and after some furious fighting from Bulatov, they were soon up to P6 overall – P5 in class.
Despite taking a double podium finish after the earlier endurance race on Saturday, the full season Walkenhorst crews had to make do with a P6 finish on track – elevated to P5 once the race winning #1 Mercedes crew had been demoted down to sixth in lieu of a drive through penalty.
The two Prosport Racing entries would end up being consistent in form if nothing else as the near all GT3 rookie crews took a P11 finish for Day and Still whilst Rennhofer and Sasse would lament their earlier pit stop error to add a P13 finish to their P9 endurance round finish earlier. Either way, it was all great experience for them and the team as they made their way back into the series for the first time since 2019.
The series now moves onto its next round from the Red Bull Ring in late September.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media
Monday, September 02, 2024 |
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Double success again for Walkenhorst in ADAC GT Masters visit to Spa
Having contested with earlier rain during yesterday’s test day, the sun was there to stay throughout the earlier part of Saturday to allow Q1 and the extended eighty-minute endurance race to be completed within the comforts of a warm, dry circuit.
Having suffered a delayed start to race one thanks to a clean-up operation from an earlier race, the #34 Walkenhorst car of Denis Bulatov and Mike David Ortmann would heading the AMR quartet with the #27 Prosport Racing AMR of Raphael Rennhofer/Hugo Sasse, the #35 Walkenhorst car of Chandler Hull/Nico Hantke and the #37 Prosport Racing car of Hendrik Still/ Jamie Day starting line astern from P13/P14 and P15 of the eighteen strong grid.
Almost a clean opening lap for the race but for a small mistake from Bulatov that would see car run wide and through the gravel before recovering on track albeit three places lower down the order whilst the other three Aston’s looked keen to compare the two differing performance iterations of the two versions of the Vantage GT3 on offer this weekend.
An early Safety Car to recover a stranded car on track broke the rhythm just fifteen minutes in and indeed delayed the opening of the first pit stop window within which the teams could choose either the shorter or the longer mandatory time this time around. Going back to green with just under an hour remaining, the #37 Prosport car of Still was the first AMR to bail for pit lane whilst the #34 car would become the last of the four to pit.
First stops all over and Sasse would find himself the highest AMR up the order having chosen the shorter mandatory stop time whilst the #34 selected the longer time as Sasse moved up to P5 (at best) whilst his former ADAC GT4 Germany teammate (Ortmann) dropped to P11 on track at this stage of the race but by the end of these guys stints, the positions on track had all be reversed.
The other two Astons was also busy squabbling it out on track as Day also drove his first GT3 racing laps against a more GT3 experienced driver (Hantke) in the #35 Walkenhorst car.
Due to the earlier delay of the first ten-minute pit stop window, the second was also delayed to take place just twenty minutes before the end with the original race starting drivers due to get back in having completed the required stop time not undertaken in their first.
Quickly, Race Control investigated the #34 car of infringing this time requirement and awarded Bulatov (now back in the car) a visit to the penalty box section of the track for their efforts. Their #35 stablemates Pro-Am entry had also moved up the order as Hull took back control of the car from P7 overall (P3 in class) for what appeared to be a possible double podium for the team again.
Whilst the #34 would hold on to fend off all the attention of the chasing #4 Porsche, a problem for that car on the final lap saw the Porsche stop and the #35 car move up to fifth overall and take another class win to join the #34 crew upon the podium after they finished P3 overall. The #27 Prosport car would finish P12 overall with the #37 P14 overall – both stellar performances from two mainly GT3 inexperienced crews running togther for the first time.
The crews and grid go again tomorrow with Q2 ahead of a shorter forty minute – pit stop punctuated spring race.
Photo credits – Team / Series / social media
Saturday, August 31, 2024 |
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Four Aston Martin Vantage GT3s confirmed for ADAC GT Masters return to Spa Francorchamps
Competing at will be their fourth round of the season in Belgium, the two full season entries from the Walkenhorst Motorsport team will indeed by joined by a further two cars from the Prosport (albeit in differing iterations of the Vantage GT3) for their own advancing young driver line up.
Within what is still a lowly eighteen strong entry list, the #34 Walkenhorst entry of Mike David Ortmann and Denis Bulatov will again be joined by their #35 stablemate entry of Nico Hantke and Chandler Hull whilst GT3 novices Jamie Day and Hendrik Still will drive the #37 Prosport entry alongside the slightly more GT3 experienced duo of Hugo Sasse and Raphael Rennhofer aboard the #27 Prosport entry.
First time back in Belgium after a nine-year sabbatical, this event again runs the 80-minute endurance race on Saturday (including its two mandatory stops) before a concluding 40-minute sprint race on Sunday like they did last time out at the Nurburgring in mid- July.
Results within the series have not been that great for the two full season Walkenhorst entries with the leading Aston driver (Ortmann/Bulatov) way down in seventh place within the overall table. Hull and Hantke are further back still but importantly for them, they enjoyed a double class podium weekend with two P2 Pro-Am class finishes at the Nurburgring.
For the Prosport Racing team, this weekend will all be about experience as all four of their drivers have little to no GT3 racing experience, certainly not within this series nor at this circuit so any results from them would be outstanding.
We were (for a time) if two more GT4 racers would be stepping up to the series within a Walkenhorst supported car as two tested with the team earlier this week before not exactly declaring what will become of that test other than a ‘wait and see!’
Photo credits – Teams / series / social media
Thursday, August 29, 2024 |
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