Since its debut in 2019, SSR Performance has established itself as one of the most successful teams in GT3 racing. Despite the team’s short history, the list of successes is already very long and includes victories in some of the toughest racing series: ADAC GT Masters title in 2020, runner-up ADAC GT Masters 2021 and DTM 2023, race wins in 2022 and 2023 in the DTM…

Now the racing team from Munich is entering the GT Winter Series. The team is entering a 991.2 generation Porsche 911 GT3 R, with which the team successfully competed in Germany’s toughest GT3 racing series between 2020 and 2022. The racing team thus remains loyal to Porsche, although SSR Performance has relied on Lamborghini in the DTM since 2023.

Team owner Stefan Schlund will be behind the wheel of the Porsche in Portimão. Schlund has already gained experience in the GT3 car from Porsche at trackdays. The race track on the Algarve coast is also a special one in SSR Performance’s team history, as the Bavarian team’s first full DTM season began on the circuit at the end of April 2022.

French team ANS Motorsport will compete in the GT Winter Series with two different Ligier models.

ANS Motorsport will contest all six race weekends of the GT Winter Series. The French team from Chevroux will be fielding different models of the French race car manufacturer Ligier. The team is led by French professional racing driver Nicolas Schatz.

Julien Lemoine will contest all six race weekends with a Ligier JS2R. The 350 hp sports coupé, which competes in the Ligier European Series and other one-make series, will start in the Cup X class. At Estoril, Valencia and the season finale in Barcelona, the team will also field a Ligier JS P320. The LMP3 car will be driven by Jonathan Brossard.

Debut in GT Winter Series

The racing team is best known for its programme with the LMP3 prototype in the Michelin Le Mans Cup and will compete in the GT Winter Series for the first time in the 2022/2023 season. Nicolas Schatz is looking forward to his drivers being able to prepare for the coming season in the best possible way under racing conditions in Portugal and Spain.

Schedule:

12.12. – 13.12.2022 – Portimão (PRT)
14.01. – 15.01.2023 – Estoril (PRT)
11.02. – 12.02.2023 – Jerez (ESP)
18.02. – 19.02.2023 – Valencia (ESP)
04.03. – 05.03.2023 – Navarra (ESP)
11.03. – 12.03.2023 – Barcelona (ESP)

Haupt Racing Team won the 2021 DTM drivers’ title with Maximilian Götz. However, the racing team from Drees near the Nürburgring has also been committed to promoting young talent for many years. This year, the successful Mercedes-AMG racing team is expanding its support programme and taking part in the GT Winter Series for the first time.

ADAC protégé and Formula 4 newcomer Finn Wiebelhaus and South African Kwanda Mokoena will compete in the ADAC GT Masters for the team led by former DTM driver Hubert Haupt. To give the two young drivers more track time and experience in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, they will also compete in the GT Winter Series. Wiebelhaus will compete in Portimão for the first time, Mokoena will join him at a later date.

Finn Wiebelhaus: “The switch to GT racing is a fantastic opportunity for me to get one step closer to my dream of a professional career in motorsport. I will be driving the same car as in the DTM and it makes me very proud to be taking my first steps in GT3 with HRT. The team has a huge amount of experience and the successes speak for themselves. Everyone is working at the highest level, which gives me a lot of confidence for the challenge ahead. It will be a great advantage in my development and will give me the opportunity to quickly familiarise myself with the new environment.”

Ulrich Fritz, Managing Director of Haupt Racing Team: “After the successes with our young talents last year, we would like to stick to our philosophy of promoting young talent. We are very much looking forward to working with Finn and Kwanda. It will be our task this season to help them realise their potential in GT3 racing.”

The Polish team Olimp Racing will compete in the GT Winter Series in the 2022/2023 season with one Ferrari 488 GT3 and one Audi R8 LMS GT3.

Olimp Racing will also compete in the GT Winter Series in the 2022/2023 season. The Polish racing team will race with one Ferrari 488 GT3 and one Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II each at least at the events in Portimão, Estoril, Jerez and in Barcelona. Both cars will start in the GTR class, which is for homologated GT3 cars. In the previous season, the Polish team already celebrated four victories in the GT Winter Series.

Stanislaw Jedlinski and Krystian Korzeniowski will race with the Italian GT3  car. Marcin Jedlinski and former karting world champion Karol Basz will steer the Audi. The team took part in the International GT Open in 2022 with the identical driver line-up. Marcin Jedlinski and his partner Basz were able to win the PROAM class in the continental GT3 racing series.

“We are very pleased that Olimp Racing will be racing with us again this year!” said Markus Gedlich, Managing Director of GTWS promoter Gedlich Racing. “The team has already proven this year that preparation in the GT Winter Series is very important for the rest of the racing year in Europe! This season, the team will again be able to compete against top-class competition in the GTR class and thus prepare perfectly for the following racing events.”

Schedule:

12.12. – 13.12.2022 – Portimão (PRT).
14.01. – 15.01.2023 – Estoril (PRT)
11.02. – 12.02.2023 – Jerez (ESP)
18.02. – 19.02.2023 – Valencia (ESP)
04.03. – 05.03.2023 – Navarra (ESP)
11.03. – 12.03.2023 – Barcelona (ESP)

Rinaldi Racing from Mendig has established itself as one of the best German teams in GT and endurance racing in recent years. In 2023, Michele Rinaldi’s racing team won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring as a support team for Frikadelli Racing and won the SP9 Pro-Am class in the same race as a technical partner of WTM by Rinaldi Racing. Race wins in the LMP3 class of the ELMS and the Prototype Cup Germany round off a successful racing year.

Now the team from the Vulkaneifel region is using the GEDLICH Racing Winter Series to also contest races over the winter. At the season opener in Estoril, the team will field a Ferrari 296 GT3 in the GT Winter Series and two LMP3 cars in the Prototype Winter Series.

The two long-standing Rinaldi Racing drivers Pierre Ehret and Christian Hook will compete for the team in the GT Winter Series. The two ambitious gentleman drivers have already competed in various racing series for Rinaldi Racing, including the 24h Le Mans and the GT World Challenge Europe.

In the Prototype Winter Series, the team from Rhineland-Palatinate is fielding one LMP3 car each from Duqueine and Ligier. The Duqueine D08 will be driven by last year’s DTM driver Sandro Holzem and his brother Juliano Holzem. The Holzem brothers already competed together in the ADAC GT4 Germany in 2022. Steve Parrow and 2013 ADAC GT Masters champion Daniel Keilwitz will alternate at the wheel of the Ligier JSP320. Parrow and Keilwitz have been contesting LMP3 races together since 2020.

Andreas Greiling from Berlin will contest the entire 2022/2023 GT Winter Series season. A trackday driver and racing newcomer just a short time ago, Greiling has continuously improved his speed, also with the help of his coach Jens Richter.

Greiling currently competes in the hotly contested Porsche Sports Cup Suisse and has already scored a number of successes with his Porsche 718 GT4 CS. Most recently, for example, he took pole position, fastest race lap and race win in Paul Ricard/F, all of which were possible in his category.

For Andreas Greiling, the GT Winter Series means further improving his level of training, but also competitive racing. Greiling: “I want to be among the front runners in the Cayman GT4 class of the GTWS. Since the class is heavily contested and therefore high-scoring, that can put you way up in the championship standings.”

His 718 GT4 will be fielded by MS Racing from Austria. The project is supported by Best Place Immobilien from Berlin, a company that deals with real estate development and marketing.

Italian hours in the GT Winter Series. The Italian team Pellin Racing will be competing with a Ferrari 488 GT3 in the GEDLICH Racing series, which starts its fifth season this weekend in Estoril. With a total of four cars, the legendary brand is the most frequently represented manufacturer in the GT3 category.

Thor Haugen from the USA will line up for the racing team from Cremona in northern Italy. Haugen competed in the Ferrari Challenge North America in 2023 and is now venturing into GT3 racing in the GT Winter Series.

The young Italian Dario Capitanio will serve as driver coach. So far in his career, Capitanio has gained experience in junior formulas and LMP3 racing. He has also competed in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo and the Renault Sport Trophy.

W&S stands for Patrick Wagner and Daniel Schellhaas. The two founded W&S Motorsport in 2010, and since 2016 the company has been standing on solid GmbH legs. Over the past few years, the team has made a steep climb, with no fewer than ten permanent employees and racing in national and international championships, such as the NLS and the GT4 European Series.

The guys, who mainly run Porsche Cayman GT4s, are spoiled for success: they are the drivers’ champions in the Am class of the GT4 European and have clinched no less than 24 podium places in the Nürburgring Endurance Series this season alone.

Now the team from Ofterdingen in Swabia will be competing in the GT Winter Series. Schellhaas: “Hibernation is not for us! We are at home at the race tracks and always look for competition. We know how important winter training is – for drivers and team. We want to

voll ausnutzen und die GT Winter Series ist die ideale Rennserie dafür. Unser Fokus liegt nicht nur auf den Siegen, sondern auch auf der Aus- und Weiterbildung von Fahrern. Durch Coaching und gemeinsame Datenanalysen unterstützen wir sie dabei, sich kontinuierlich zu verbessern. Die GT Winter Series ist eine perfekte Serie und die Endless Summer Test- & Trackdays der ideale Rahmen, um sich auf die kommende Rennsaison 2023 vorzubereiten. Wir freuen uns, erste Teilnehmer im Team begrüßen zu können. Wer sich W&S Motorsport anschließen möchte, bekommt ein perfekt geschnürtes Paket mit bestens vorbereiteten Fahrzeugen und einem professionellen Team an der Seite!“

Das Team ist derzeit mit mehreren Fahrern in Verhandlung. Bei der GT Winter Series können sich zwei Piloten ein Auto teilen, es kann aber auch von einem Fahrer alleine gefahren werden.

Amato Ferrari – who, despite his surname, is not related to the Ferrari dynasty – founded AF Corse in 1995. The Italian racing team quickly established itself as one of the largest and most important in international GT racing. Countless race victories and title wins in the FIA WEC, the GT World Challenge Europe and other racing series underline this. To date, AF Corse has been responsible for six class victories at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans and also the much-acclaimed overall victory in 2023 with the new Ferrari 499P hypercar.

In the GT Winter Series in winter 2024, the racing team will also field a 488 Challenge Evo. The car will be driven by gentleman driver John Dhillon and international GT ace Matt Griffin.

Last winter, several drivers in the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo already proved that they can upset and defeat the higher-class competitors in the GT Winter Series races. It is to be expected that the 41-year-old Irishman Matt Griffin, who has been competing for AF Corse in various international GT racing series for many years, will be able to do the same, which will make for a particularly exciting field of participants in the GT Winter Series.

Schubert Motorsport is planning for the winter – with the GT Winter Series. The team from Saxony-Anhalt, which is accustomed to success, successfully competed in international racing series in 2022. “Now we want to actively use the winter to prepare our team and our drivers for the next summer. Why get rusty in the winter when we have good options in Spain and Portugal?” says Schubert team manager Marcel Schmidt.

The BMW M4 GT3, the M4 GT4 and the M2 CS Racing, respectively, are ready to go. “At Schubert, we provide our performance-oriented structure and bring for every demand

an optimally prepared BMW at the start – this applies to ambitious amateurs as well as professional drivers,” says Schmidt. “We are currently in talks with several drivers and are sounding out the constellations for a successful winter.”

Anyone who would like to apply for a driving position with Schubert is welcome to contact Marcel Schmidt directly at Marcel.Schmidt@schubert-motorsport.com.