Focus on the future: Mazatis will be driving electrically again in 2025!
Benjamin Mazatis will start again in 2025 in the NXT Gen Cup, the first all-electric touring car series. The 27-year-old from Bruckmühl is therefore entering his 2nd season with the 250PS all-electric racing car. After a steep learning curve in 2024, he is now very well prepared and wants to put the experience he has gained into practice. There are 16 races over 4 race weekends. The season opener is from 25-27 April in Oschersleben, followed by the highlight of the season at the Norisring (04 - 06 July), the legendary Nürburgring (08-10 August) and finally the finale at the Sachsenring (22-24 August). All events take place as part of the supporting programme of the renowned DTM racing series.
„A lot of things were new to me last year, after all, the Mini LRT Nxt1 The concept is completely different to anything I've ridden before. The results and learning curve were good, but I'm not satisfied with that alone. I always want to ride at the front and win! Now I'm back to implement what I've learnt and get the maximum out of it. If I manage to do that, it will be a fantastic season!“ said Benjamin Mazatis ambitiously.
3 questions for Benjamin Mazatis:
Why did you decide to return to the Nxt Gen Cup in 2025?
For me, the NXT Gen Cup for a great environment, very close wheel-to-wheel battles on the track, slipstream battles in qualifying and very strategic and intelligent driving in the race. In addition, as in life, an important criterion is what is my perspective. And that's what the Elektrocup offers. The world, the automotive industry, is changing and you can't ignore that. Sustainability has become a key issue in the corporate world. There are more exciting projects in the pipeline, which is why I am firmly convinced that this is the right way forward. I also really want to put what I learnt last year into practice and win the title. I am highly motivated. In addition, the ADAC and the DTM platform offer my partners excellent marketing opportunities. On my race weekends, for example, there are as many spectators as at Bundesliga matches.
What exactly were the challenges and adjustments to this car?
2024 was the first time I drove front-wheel drive. The best example of the differences is driving in the rain. In the GT, the rear axle always comes to you when you accelerate and you control the car through it. Here it's always just understeer when you accelerate. In other words, I didn't feel the car the way I was used to. Both in the wet and in the dry. To compensate for this, I always had to go for a hard setup, which wasn't ideal on some tracks and then also led to higher tyre wear and temperatures. Now I understand the car much better and feel very comfortable even on the softest set-up. The speed was always there anyway. So I'm very confident!
Will you be competing in the GT3 again in a major 24-hour race in 2025?
First of all, I'm fully focussed on the season opener in Oschersleben. I have set myself big goals for the first race weekend, as I want to gain momentum right from the start and then carry this throughout the season. After that, there will be a break of more than two months until we step on the gas at the Norisring. This will be the right time for me to hold concrete talks with sponsors and teams about the possibility of taking part in endurance races. But as I said, first comes Oschersleben and good results are always a recommendation!