Ciccone, along with Callaway Competition founder Ernst Wöhr, has acted as team principal for the team from Leingarten since 2012, during which time, the outfit has won 20 races in the ADAC GT Masters - more than any other team. They clinched the title in the drivers' championship with Daniel Keilwitz and Diego Alessi in 2013 and won the drivers', the junior title and the team title last year with Jules Gounon. Ciccone is now handing over operational management of the racing team to Mike Gramke, Technical Director at Callaway, who was mainly responsible for the development of the Z06.R GT3 and C7 GT3-R Corvettes.

"I would like to thank my partner Ernst Wöhr and everyone in the team for all the great years with them. Callaway Competition are a small but fine outfit with a tight-knit squad, the best team ever in my opinion," said Ciccone. "We are the only racing team in the ADAC GT Masters that develops and builds its own racing cars and have enjoyed plenty of success. My special thanks go to Florian Möhring, André Zanke, Petr Hada¨čok, Brian Koch, Rüdiger Geckler, Uwe Hoffmann, Herbert Schürg, Maria Olpp and Daniel Keilwitz - he's been with us since 2010 - who through their tireless dedication have been by and large responsible for our successes together. These achievements were only made possible thanks to the efforts of everyone who helped and to the many great partners, especially Gerd Beisel and RWT, who have now become an integral part of the team. After five successful years as Team Principal, I'm delighted to be handing over management of the races to Mike Gramke. I could not ask for a better successor. He's been a solid member of the team for more than ten years and knows the engineering that underpins our cars inside out."

Ciccone finished by adding: "I would also like to thank ADAC Sports President Hermann Tomczyk, the entire ADAC GT Masters management team and all the other team bosses. We may have plenty of exciting wheel-to-wheel scraps out on track but are always courteous to one another in the paddock and that's what makes the ADAC GT Masters! I've really enjoyed my time in the racing series. Obviously, I'll be sticking around and will continue to look after Callaway Competition's other business interests. I'll still go to the races but will no longer have an active role to play at the track."