Daniel Keilwitz just missed becoming the most successful driver ever in ADAC GT Masters history last season. The 27-year-old was on course to take the title in the second race at the 2016 finale in Hockenheim. By winning the championship, he would have become only the second driver in the ten-year history of the Super Sports Car League to take the championship title twice. Still, that was all supposition in the end - he didn't pull it off, so that honour and the title of 'Mr ADAC GT Masters' remain the sole preserve of Sebastian Asch, who took overall wins in 2012 and 2015.
All the champions at a glance
2007 Christopher Haase
2008 Tim Bergmeister
2009 Christian Abt
2010 Albert von Thurn und Taxis & Peter Kox
2011 Dino Lunardi & Alexandros Margaritis
2012 Sebastian Asch & Maximilian Götz
2013 Diego Alessi & Daniel Keilwitz
2014 René Rast & Kelvin van der Linde
2015 Sebastian Asch & Luca Ludwig
2016 Connor De Phillippi & Christopher Mies
Asch also leads in another category. The son of DTM driver Roland Asch holds the record for competing the greatest number of times in the ADAC GT Masters. The second race at the Red Bull Ring in 2016 marked his 115th race. As a result, he knocked Swiss driver Toni Seiler from the top spot of stalwarts, who have lined up the most times. Daniel Keilwitz and Asch's regular team-mate Luca Ludwig are two more drivers, who broke through the 100-mark barrier last season.
The '100' Club
1. Sebastian Asch 121
2. Toni Seiler 114
3. Daniel Keilwitz 102
4. Luca Ludwig 100
And it's Keilwitz yet again, but just why exactly would he have become the most successful driver? Because he's achieved more wins than Sebastian Asch. And not only that, he has secured the greatest number of first places of any driver lining up in the ADAC GT Masters - 17 from 102 races. That corresponds to a win rate of 16.6 percent. Not bad in a series, in which more than 30 vehicles regularly compete in the field. Two-time champion Asch has 'only' eight successes to his name.
Drivers with the most wins
1. Daniel Keilwitz 17
2. Luca Ludwig 12
3. Christopher Haase 11
4. Albert von Thurn und Taxis, Peter Kox, 9 each
6. Diego Alessi, René Rast, Andreas Wirth, Jens Klingmann, Dominik Baumann, Sebastian Asch, 8 each
Two drivers, who were still competing in 2016, headed the statistics previously. In terms of pole positions, one driver, who contested his last full season in the ADAC GT Masters in 2013 is still on top, Frank Kechele. He has been on pole no less than nine times. However, two drivers managed to catch up last season and are right behind him in joint second place.
The best in the race against the clock
1. Frank Kechele 9
2. Martin Ragginger, Luca Ludwig, 7 each
4. Christopher Haase, Peter Kox, Daniel Keilwitz, 6 each
7. Christopher Mies, Diego Alessi, Jens Klingmann, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sebastian Asch, Dominik Schwager, 4 each
As regards team wins, Callaway Competition and Reiter Engineering are practically neck-and-neck. Callaway lead by 24 to 21. Reiter, who didn't take part last season, head the pole positions rankings with 23 to 21. The best car of all those in the field remains the first generation Audi R8 LMS which still heads the two most important sets of statistics with 26 wins and 23 pole positions.