The Italian and his German team-mate have been lining up together for Callaway Competition in the ADAC GT Masters since 2011. This is the first drivers' title in the ADAC GT Masters for Callaway Competition, who are the longest serving team in the Super Sports Car League; the outfit led by Ernst Wöhr and Giovanni Ciccone took the team championship in 2009.

Their route to the title has been quite impressive; Corvette drivers Alessi/Keilwitz have won five races, and so, are the only driver pairing since Christopher Haase, the first ADAC GT Masters champion in 2007, to have achieved five wins. However, the season has been a real rollercoaster. The new champions won the second race at the season-opener in the etropolis Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, but that was then followed by a fallow period. Alessi/Keilwitz only managed to secure a measly four points in Spa-Francorchamps and at the Sachsenring, so their title hopes appeared to have evaporated. But Callaway Competition rolled up their sleeves during the summer break and prepared for the second half of the season with an intensive programme of testing. And it paid off, the Callaway drivers put on a spurt in the ADAC GT Masters weekends at the Red Bull Ring, Lausitzring and Slovakia Ring, winning 4 of 6 races.

This is the biggest success of his motor racing career to date for Alessi, who first began in motor cycling before switching to four wheels. The trained lawyer has been one of the quickest GT racing drivers for a number of years. "I've shared the car with amateur drivers so many times during my career and, usually, a top result is not possible at the end of the year." Alessi, who lives in a small town near Perugia, put his law books to one side some time ago. "I have a law degree and led a steady existence for a number of years to earn money, but my thoughts were never far from motor racing. Despite all the financial uncertainties, I then decided at some point to concentrate fully on motor racing."

Alessi finds it difficult to hide his roots as a lawyer when preparing for races since no one else is as meticulous as him before an event. "The moment when Diego leaves a race track, he is already thinking of the next event," said Callaway Competition team boss Giovanni Ciccone. "He likes to take all manner of data home with him to analyse. At the next race, he then discusses the finest of details with the engineers. His life is motor racing. He's completely focused on the sport and has dedicated himself completely to racing."

This ADAC GT Masters title is the second championship victory of his career for Daniel Keilwitz. Three years ago, 24-year-old Keilwitz won the FIA GT3 European championship with Callaway Competition before switching to the ADAC GT Masters. Keilwitz took some of his initial steps in motor racing in the series. Keilwitz lined up in the DTC des DMSB - ADAC Procar and competed in the Mini Trophy before moving to a cockpit in a GT3 sports car. Apart from a couple of test drives, Keilwitz has never raced a single-seater car. Keilwitz works for a chassis manufacturer as an IT specialist. He is very similar in nature to Alessi. Both are self-effacing and usually act in a calm, sensible manner.

Ciccone: "Daniel is enormously talented and is getting the final polish with us. Diego and Daniel complement each other perfectly and learn from one another. Diego works meticulously on the car and setup and Daniel is very good at putting things into practice. The two together are simply brilliant."