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GT CUP SERIES RACE WEEKEND 1, RED BULL RING, APRIL 10–12
The traditional and popular GT Cup Series championship kicks off its new season. This weekend, it will take place at the famous Austrian Red Bull Ring circuit, also known as the venue for the Austrian F1 Grand Prix.
The series, which is also part of the FIA CEZ Championship, will feature seven race weekends. It will culminate in October at another Formula 1 track, the Hungaroring/Budapest. The season will also feature races in Croatia (Grobnik), Slovakia (Slovakiaring), and the Czech Republic (Most, Brno). This fulfills the vision of the FIA CEZ championship – to unite the countries of Central Europe.
The starting grid for the opening weekend is beautifully full. The Slovak promoters of the GT Cup Series have teamed up for the first time with the organizers of the Austrian GT Championship and have also welcomed drivers from the Prototype Cup Germany series, which ended last year.
The races will thus offer a diverse mix of GT3 cars and other Grand Turismo categories, as well as LMP3 sports prototypes. Saturday’s Endurance race (60 minutes) is expected to have a maximum capacity of 38 entrants, and the same applies to Sunday’s Sprint race for 33 cars (25 minutes).
One highlight is the participation of Austrian legend Franz Konrad. The veteran will compete in an LMP3 Ligier JS320 and will face, among others, Slovak driver Miroslav Konopka, who will be driving the same car for the ARC Bratislava – team that recently succeeded at Mugello, Italy, in the 24h Series championship (3rd overall, 1st in the GT3-AM category).
Among Franz Konrad’s greatest achievements is a second-place finish at the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he achieved alongside Dutchman Jan Lammers and Brit Andy Wallace in a factory Jaguar XJR-12. A year later, he was part of the crew that dominated the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. As a young driver, he won the German F3 International Championship (1983). Other champions in this series include Michael Schumacher and Tom Kristensen.
The opening weekend of the GT Cup Series at the Red Bull Ring will begin with testing on Friday, followed by practice sessions, qualifying, and races on Saturday. Sunday will be dedicated solely to racing.
From the history:
– The Red Bull Ring was originally named the Österreichring. Opened in 1969, the track was significantly longer and ranked among the fastest in the world
– In its very first season, spectators witnessed the first victory of the legendary Porsche 917. The 1,000-kilometer race was won by Swiss driver Jo Siffert and German driver Kurt Ahrens Jr.
– In 1982, Czechoslovakia achieved a historic success. Zdeněk Vojtěch and his local teammate Jo Gartner won the European Touring Car Championship 500 km race. They took turns driving the BMW 528i of team manager Václav Bervid
– This circuit has been known as the Red Bull Ring since 2011
Press release by Martin Straka