A total of 20,700 spectators attended the big season finale at the weekend featuring the twelve races of the ADAC GT Masters and associated partner series: Formel ADAC, ATS Formel-3-Cup, ADAC PROCAR and MINI TROPHY. Nine titles were decided during the seventh ADAC Masters Weekend of this season.
ADAC GT Masters
No film director could have envisaged a more exciting end to the season: seven drivers all had title chances in the ADAC GT Masters at the start of the final race and the championship battle itself developed into a real thriller with tension building right up until the last chequered flag. All seven title contenders were out of the points in the first race, as Dominik Schwager and Claudia Hürtgen drove the BMW Z4 to their first win of the season. In the second race, Sebastian Asch and Maximilian Götz took their first win of the season, winning the three-way title battle. "The last 15 minutes in the car were the toughest of my entire racing career," said Asch, who had even more cause to celebrate: With victory in the closing race of the season, the 'Men in Black' secured in their deep-black Mercedes SLS the 2012 team championship for their kfzteile24 MS RACING team.
Formel ADAC
Lotus driver Marvin Kirchhöfer decided the title duel against Gustav Malja in his favour at the grand finale. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé took a two-point deficit on Malja to the last three races at Hockenheim but was crowned champion ahead of time with two wins in the first two races. With another victory in Sunday's final race, Kirchhöfer secured the first hat-trick of wins of the year in the season finale (three wins in one weekend). Apart from the first champion, Armando Parente in 2008, Kirchhöfer is the only champion to win the title in his debut year in the Formel ADAC.
ATS Formel-3-Cup
Motor racing has probably never seen a happier pole sitter than Jimmy Eriksson: fastest time in qualifying gave the Swedish driver the three points he needed for an ATS Formel-3-Cup title win before the end of the season. The newly crowned champion celebrated his weekend in Hockenheim with two victories and a third. Lucas Auer also had good reason to smile. The nephew of ex-Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger took first place in the rookie stakes and was also runner-up in the overall standings. The title in the ATS Formel-3-Trophy was awarded prior to the race weekend at the Hockenheimring: German driver Andre Rudersdorf secured the top spot during the ADAC Masters Weekend at the Nürburgring.
ADAC PROCAR
The winners in Division 1 (Jens Weimann) and Division 2 (Guido Thierfelder) were already known before the final weekend of the ADAC PROCAR season. Champion Weimann rounded off an exceptionally solid season with a further double victory in Division 1. Meanwhile, veteran driver Thierfelder won the first race in Division 2. Lennart Marioneck's finest hour came in the last race of the year when the ADAC Sports Foundation protegé drove from fifth on the grid to victory, thus securing the number two spot in the championship. Third place overall went to Ralf Glatzel, who was on the same points total as Marioneck but had achieved fewer victories.
MINI TROPHY
The winner of the 2012 MINI TROPHY is Jürgen Schmarl. Victory in Race 1 at the Hockenheimring was enough to secure the title for the Austrian driver, one race ahead of the end of the season. Stephanie Halm's second-place finish also allowed Gigamot 1 to wrap up the team championship ahead of time. The battle for the runner-up spot in the competition carried over into Sunday with Thomas Tekaat and Ralf Martin still in the frame. Tekaat put in an impressive performance, surging up the field from eleventh on the grid to a race victory, at the same time clinching second place in the championship. Meanwhile, Ralf Martin was a clear winner in the Gentleman classification.