Thirty drivers lined up at the Nürburgring on 8th June 2007 for the premiere of the ADAC GT Masters, including some well-known names, such as DTM legend Klaus Ludwig, ex-F1 driver Gianni Morbidelli and former Le Mans winner Christophe Bouchut, for example. Among them was a relatively unknown young driver, who up until that point, had only ever contested a GT3 weekend and had raced in the ADAC Logan Cup the previous year. His name, Christopher Haase, aged 19.

At Reiter Engineering, Haase shared the drive in a Lamborghini Gallardo with Morbidelli and made a superb debut. He took pole position in qualifying and went on to secure a comfortable victory. "The result surprised everyone, including me," said Haase. "I was with Reiter at the time and worked on the car myself during the week. Being so young, it's great to get to grips with the car straightaway and learn the things that you should know as a driver as soon as possible, so I was well prepared. With Gianni Morbidelli and Peter Kox in the sister car, I had two team-mates, with whom I could compare myself, but more importantly, I was able to learn a lot from them, especially about set-up."

Ably supported by Morbidelli and later Jos Menten, the rest of the 2007 season, in which he notched up four more wins and three second places to become the very first champion in the ADAC GT Masters shows that Haase's succes was more than just a flash in the pan. "It was never expected, especially as I was up against some famous opponents back then."

Eleven years later, and Haase is back in the ADAC GT Masters, this time in the Audi R8 LMS prepared by BWT Mücke Motorsport, which he shares with Swiss driver Ricardo Feller. However, the roles are now reversed. Haase is the seasoned driver, the mentor, while Feller is the youngest in the field. "For me, as a works driver with Audi Sport Customer Racing, it's an important part of my job to pass on my experience to the customer teams and to young drivers, which I enjoy doing, and of course, it's really great when you see the progress you've made together. Ricardo is still very young. He's only just turned 18 and got his driver's licence. He's extremely talented. There are very few drivers who can drive at such a high level at this young age and yet, be so relaxed and approach everything as calmly at the same time."

Haase feels optimistic about the upcoming ADAC GT Masters races. "You know you've done a good job when you can finish in the Top Ten in a field of more than 30 cars," he told us. "We're focused mainly on the Junior classification and aim to achieve a place in the Top Three with Ricardo. We would love to achieve podiums, which will not be easy, but the potential is definitely there. We've got a great team who are very professional and tackle everything in a structured manner. I'm highly delighted. It shows, the fact that they were in the DTM for a long time. The next couple of races at the Nürburgring, Zandvoort and Sachsenring should suit our Audi. We should probably be in with a good chance at these racetracks."

The fourth of seven ADAC GT Masters race meetings being held this season will take place from 3rd to 5th August at the venue where it all began, the Nürburgring.