After ten plus years of doing Sportscar Racing News it’s time to move on and do other things. It would be impossible for me to calculate how many hours I’ve put into doing this site plus the expense too. I’ve had some help along the way, so I’ll say thank you to my daughter for the help right at the beginning and the media applications she’s done for me. John for the countless number of photographs he’s taken. Of course thank you to all of you who have been reading Sportscar Racing News.

Grasser Racing’s performance at the DTM in Oschersleben this weekend made for a great start to the season. From 26th to 28th May, around 35,000 spectators enjoyed best summer weather in the Magdeburger Börde region to see the first round of the iconic championship live. The fans of the Austrian Lamborghini Team were not disappointed. Clemens Schmid impressed in every way on the DTM premiere of the new Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 with fifth place on Sunday. With this result, the Austrian was the best-placed of the five Lamborghini drivers in the field of 27 GT3 cars. Team-mate Mick Wishofer had a strong showing on his DTM debut with fourth place in Qualifying on Saturday. In the races though he was out of luck.

A great performance and a perfect strategy – in Oschersleben, Christian Engelhart was rewarded for a faultless performance in the Porsche 911 GT3 R from Toksport WRT with his maiden DTM win. On Sunday, the experienced 36-year-old driver had started the second race of the season from seventh on the grid and moved up to second place after a perfectly timed pit stop. His brand team-mate Thomas Preining (A) from Manthey EMA had been leading up that point, but a penalty for him saw Engelhart take the lead and he crossed the finishing line in first place after 41 laps. “That victory was clearly due to the whole team. The pit stop was sensational and I had great pace before and after it. This is a fantastic win,” said the jubilant Porsche driver, who topped the rostrum for the first time in what was just his fourth DTM race. His team-mate Tim Heinemann from Fichtenberg also had reason to celebrate. As he had on Saturday, the newcomer secured second place and moved into the lead in the overall standings. Preining completed the three-way Porsche podium. Around 35,000 spectators enjoyed a top-quality DTM opener in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, with thrilling qualifying sessions and two new winners.

Fanatec GT2 European Series history was made in the second round of the series in the sun at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, with the newest world-class brand to join the grid – the Mercedes-AMG GT2 – claiming outright victory on its first outing with the Akkodis ASP Team. 

That was a show of strength. Franck Perera (F) from the SSR Performance team produced a nerveless performance to claim a dominant start-finish victory in the first DTM race of the season. The former Formula 1 test driver thereby secured the first win in the series for Lamborghini at the opening race of the 37th DTM season. On Saturday, Perera started the race at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in first place in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, controlling the field in a commanding fashion before and after the mandatory pit stop. “This win really means a lot to me. I have had some ups and downs in my career, but I knew that I still had plenty in the tank. The season still has a long way to go but I will enjoy this success and have a beer tonight,” explained the Lamborghini works driver, who is now a permanent driver in the popular race series for the first time after making a guest appearance last year. A “real” newcomer produced a sensational result, as Tim Heinemann from Fichtenberg secured second place in the Porsche 911 GT3 R for Toksport WRT. British driver Jack Aitken claimed the third spot on the podium for himself and his Emil Frey Racing team to mark his DTM debut in the Ferrari 296 GT3.

Sheldon van der Linde made an impressive start to the DTM season in Oschersleben: the defending champion from the Schubert Motorsport team was the top driver after the two free practice sessions on Friday. The South African set the fastest lap time of 1:21.960 minutes in his BMW M4 GT3 and was the only driver to dip under 1:22.000 minutes. “The track was faster in the second free practice than in FP1. The car was also better, which gives us confidence going into Saturday’s qualifying,” said the BMW driver. Mirko Bortolotti (I) from SS Performance set the fastest lap time (1:22.376 minutes) in the opening session.

The Fanatec GT2 European Series field of 2023 served up one of the closest qualifying sessions in the championship’s short history at the Red Bull Ring this afternoon, ahead of the second round of the season in Austria this weekend.

Fascinating GT racers, a new fully-electric racing series, spectacular prototypes and classics from throughout the history of the DTM – this season, the DTM offers visitors an entertaining motorsport package at every event. Thrilling motor racing comes courtesy of the ADAC GT Masters, which shares the bill with the DTM on four occasions, and ADAC GT4 Germany, which will start at six events. The support programme for the DTM will feature fiercely-contested one-make cups from BMW and Porsche, as well as the talented female drivers in the new F1 Academy for the first time. DTM Classic takes spectators on a journey back through almost four decades of the DTM. At the Nürburgring, the DTM event will include a new series with fully-electric race cars: the NXT Gen Cup.

Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS is set for its annual trip to the Mediterranean coast to contest a six-hour Endurance Cup contest at Circuit Paul Ricard. 

Three Porsche customer teams head into the 2023 DTM season this coming weekend (26 to 28 May) in Oschersleben. Manthey EMA, Team75 Bernhard and Toksport WRT each field two 992-generation 416 kW (565 hp) 911 GT3 R racing cars. A total of 28 drivers will tackle the 16 races. Each of the eight racing weekends features two sprint events with the finale contested at the Hockenheimring.

Experienced sportscar racer Xavier Maassen will round out Team Parker Racing’s line up for the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa, joining Derek Pierce, Kiern Jewiss, and Andy Meyrick in the squad’s Porsche 911 GT3 R.