Sports Journalist of the Year: Winner

Over the past few years the age at which young racing drivers make the switch from karting to cars has decreased. As of now, the average age for making this switch is 15 years old. Talented young drivers can be found across many different categories of automobile racing, with one goal: to succeed.

“When I was a small kid, my dad would take me to the 24 hours of Nurburgring every year. And from there I knew that I wanted to be in these cars, I wanted to race and I wanted to do that in GT racing,” says Jan Marschalkowski, 19 year old German GT3 driver. 

Jan is one of the rookies in the 2022 ADAC GT Masters championship. He made the switch from karting to cars at the age of 17. After winning the 2019 ADAC Kart Cup he signed with Team AVIA Sorg Rennsport to race in ADAC GT4 Germany with GT4 cars. In his debut season he finished 5th in the standings while being crowned the junior champion. In 2021 he moved to the team Zakspeed where he fought for the championship with his teammate, Theo Nouet, against proven champions Gabriele Piana and Michael Schrey. 

Jan and Theo came second in the championship after making the wrong tyre choice in the last race of the season. “The mistake in race 2 with the wrong tyre choice cost us our championship. If we would have taken the slicks we would probably be champions,” says Jan. 

This year he is competing in the ADAC GT Masters with Daniel Juncadella, a very skilled factory driver for Mercedes. It is Jan’s debut in GT3 cars, so having a strong teammate is really beneficial. “To drive this car with Mercedes factory support and with Daniel as my teammate, I don’t think you can wish for anything else. He has gathered so much experience over the last few years in formula cars and DTM. He was even a F1 reserve and testing driver, so there is absolutely no better teammate in the world to learn from in my first year in GT3,” revealed the young German. 

As of April 2022 Jan has been a part of True Racing, a content page about motorsport that works with the likes of Gabriela Jílková (also known as QuickGabi) and her teammate Robert Haub who are also making their way through the ranks of GT championships with GT4 being their current home. 

GT Masters is the last stop before DTM for most European drivers wanting to succeed in GT racing. They race with GT3 cars in one-hour-long races with a driver switch halfway through. When drivers deliver, they get opportunities to develop the cars by being factory drivers for different manufacturers. 

“Since I was a child the dream has been to become a factory driver. To get an opportunity like this, to be in a factory supported car this year is incredible. I know that Mercedes will watch me and follow me very closely, that’s also why I want to perform well this year. The end goal is to become a Mercedes factory driver and do it for the rest of my life. I can’t say it in words how excited I am for this season,” says Jan ahead of his GT3 debut that will be at the Motorsport Arena in Oschersleben on the 23rd of April.