At the traditional get-together in the Munich headquarters of the ADAC to mark the end of the season, the 400 invited guests applauded loudly as Christopher Mies and Connor De Phillippi walked on stage. The two Audi drivers proudly accepted their trophies for jointly winning the 2016 ADAC GT Masters from ADAC advisor for cars Jürgen Fabry.

"It feels great to have won the title," said Christopher Mies to master of ceremonies, Julia Josten. "Especially since at 27 years of age, I'm already one of the older generation in the ADAC GT Masters. I've got very close to landing the big one a couple of times in the past few years, but now I've finally done it." Mies was full of praise for his young team-mate: "I first met him in January and could see straightaway that he's very quick. Thanks again to everyone who had a hand in pairing us up as drivers. And thanks too to Audi for such a fantastic car, with which we consistently finished in the points."

To Josten's question whether he had expected to become champion in 2016, American driver Connor De Phillippi replied in German, saying: "I certainly thought it was a possibility. Decent results in races before the start of the 2016 ADAC GT Masters season strengthened that supposition. Thanks again to Christopher, I gradually got better acquainted with the Audi R8. Our goal was to finish on the podium in every race if possible. We managed to do that quite often, and it was just enough to win the title in the end."