THE TEAM
JOHN SHOFFNER
Born in Alaska, USA, John Shoffner formed J2-Racing with his wife, Janine, in 2012. John was a driver for the team with multiple class wins and podium finishes in both Carrera cup and GT3 class.
In 2021, John decided to dedicate his focus to and fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a private astronaut through Axiom Space’s NASA-level training and flight program. Follow his journey to the International Space Station on Instagram @JohnPShoffner
JANINE SHOFFNER
Janine is a native of England, now living in the USA.
An ex-professional sports skydiver, trainer and free-fall photographer, Janine now focuses completely on Endurance GT car racing at the Nürburgring and around Europe.
As part of J2-Racing she has multiple class wins and podium finishes in both Carrera Cup and GT3 class.
Instagram: @janineshoffner
MORITZ KRANZ
Ever since starting with karting at the age of 10, motorsport has been firmly anchored as a part of life for Moritz.
In 2013 he went to the Nürburgring Nordschleife and started with the RCN. Two second places as individual starters quickly showed that this step was the right one for him. From there, the change to the VLN was completed quickly, starting from a BMW E30 325i and moving directly into a Porsche Cayman in class V6.
For the 2021 season Moritz will compete with J2 in the Mercedes AMG GT3 in the NLS, and is excited to make the move up to the SP9 class!
Instagram: @moritz_kranz_racing
MAXIME SOULET
Maxime started his racing career in the French Formula Renault in 2002. His first success followed in 2004 when he won two championship titles in one year, the Belgian Formula Renault and Mini Cooper Challenge Belgium.
The next step in a career was the Formula BMW USA in 2005, in which he scored five podiums to finish 7th in the points.
In 2015, Soulet joined the Bentley factory team to race in the #8 Bentley Continental GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance Series, with the team finding a second place in the 2017 endurance cup.
Maxime is joins J2 to race in the 2020 Nürburgring 24h and especially with the breadth his endurance racing experience, he is a very welcome addition to the team.
Instagram: @maxsoulet
MARKUS PALTTALA
Born in Finland, Markus has a very impressive and successful driving career. Beginning in karting at age 4, he has been a development driver for many factory teams, has competed in over 40 24h races, a three time LeMans participant and has seen many overall and total podium finishes around the world including many 24h overall podiums. We are happy to have Markus and his depth of experience onboard with J2.
His list of racing and driving accomplishments would fill a book, but In short;
24h of Spa Overall Winner
24h of Spa, Sicily & Zolder Class Winner
Blancpain GT, IMSA, ELMS, LMS, AsLMS, VLN, Renault Sports Trophy, Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, FFSA GT, NAEC Race Winner
Renault Sport Trophy Endurance Champion
Blancpain GT, IMSA, FIA GT3, Renault Sports Trophy Team Champion
2 x Blancpain GT, FFSA GT Vice-Champion
2 x 24h of Nürburgring 2nd overall
North American Endurance Cup, Le Mans Series, FIA WEC 3rd
11x 24h Race Overall or Class Podium
BMW Sports Trophy Winner, BMW Works Driver
Instagram: @mpalttala
From Troisdorf Germany, Fabian comes from an impressive racing family and was introduced to motorsports almost from his first breath. A rare racing talent, Fabian is not just a talented driver, but he posses a keen understanding of car dynamics, a very valuable combination.
Fabian has many GT3 race starts in the AMG GT3 and including the fastest race lap in the 2018 SPA 24hr. Fabian serves as our primary team driver and development coach. We are happy to have Fabian with J2-Racing.
FABIAN SCHILLER
THE CAR
Mercedes-AMG GT3
The Mercedes-AMG GT3 was developed with the ambition to win. Based on the production version of the GT and with the wealth of experience acquired from the achievements of the SLS AMG GT3. It pairs high-class technology with a spectacular design. It impresses with maximum safety, precise dynamics and easy driveability. Thanks to optimised service intervals, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 also stands out for it’s low running costs.
Technical specifications.
*Information taken from https://www.mercedes-amg.com/customerracing/en/vehicles/amg-gt3.html
| ENGINE | AMG 6.3-LITER V8 NATURALLY ASPIRATED ENGINE (6,208 CM3) |
| TRANSMISSION | SEQUENTIAL AMG 6-SPEED RACING GEARBOX |
| ELECTRONICS | MOTORSPORT ELECTRICS INCL. EXTENSIVELY ADJUSTABLE ABS AND AMG TRACTION CONTROL |
| WHEELS / TYRES | AMG ALLOYS, 18 “, FORGED [FRONT 325/680-18 / REAR 325/705-18] |
| BRAKES | FRONT 390 MM / REAR 355 MM BRAKE BALANCE CONFIGURATION VIA BALANCE BEAM |
| SUSPENSION | DOUBLE WISHBONE FRONT AND REAR MOTORSPORT DAMPERS WITH ADJUSTABLE COMPRESSION AND REBOUND, ADJUSTABLE ANTI-ROLL BARS |
| WEIGHT | < 1,285 KG* |
| TANK VOLUME | 120 LITERS, MOTORSPORT SAFETY TANK |
| LENGTH | MAX. 4,746 MM |
| WIDTH | MAX. 2,049 MM |
| HEIGHT | MAX. 1,238 MM |
THE TRACK
Nürburgring / Nordschleife
The Nürburgring is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer Nordschleife “North loop” track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains.
The north loop is 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long and has more than 300 metres (1,000 feet) of elevation change from its lowest to highest points. Jackie Stewart nicknamed the old track “The Green Hell”.
Several touring car series still compete on the Nordschleife, using either only the simple 20.8 km (12.9 mi) version with its separate small pit lane, or a combined 24.4 km (15.2 mi)-long track that uses a part of the original modern F1 track (without the Mercedes Arena section, which is often used for support pits) plus its huge pit facilities. Entry-level competition requires a regularity test (GLP) for street-legal cars. Two racing series (RCN/CHC and VLN) compete on 15 Saturdays each year, for several hours.
The annual highlight is the 24 Hours Nürburgring weekend, held usually in mid-May, featuring 220 cars – from small 100 hp (75 kW) cars to 700 hp (520 kW) Turbo Porsches or 500 hp (370 kW) factory race cars built by BMW, Opel, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz, over 700 drivers (amateurs and professionals), and up to 290,000 spectators.
