The first race week of the 2019 ADAC GT Masters got underway on Tuesday with a press event in Munich. Also on the agenda at Schuhbeck's Südtiroler Stuben was the induction of last year's champion Robert Renauer (34, GER) into the newly inaugurated ADAC GT Masters Club of Champions. He was presented with an exclusive blue blazer by new series partner and co-initiator herrenaustatter.de. The teams and drivers get down to business in earnest on the racetrack at the weekend. As usual, it will be Motorsport Arena Oschersleben near Magdeburg hosting the ADAC GT Masters season opener. Both races will be broadcast live and in full length by SPORT1 on Saturday and Sunday (starting at 13:00 CEST). In addition, they will be shown online as a livestream on sport1.de, adac.de/motorsport and youtube.com/adac.

Defending champion Robert Renauer, who shared his 2018 title win with Mathieu Jaminet, was singled out for a special honour at the event in Munich, being inducted as the first member of new Club of Champions. Renata DePauli, chairman of the board at DePauli AG which operates the herrenausstatter.de online shop, presented Renauer with a blue blazer complete with embroidered club badge and gold-coloured lining specially designed for members of the ADAC GT Masters Club of Champions. "The partnership between herrenaustatter.de and the ADAC GT Masters is a perfect fit," says Renata DePauli. "Fashion, sports and cars are topics that inspire men. We are therefore very happy to be partners of the ADAC GT Masters. And we have started something special with the Club of Champions. The exclusive membership and the unique jackets will be marks of distinction for future ADAC GT Masters champions."

ADAC GT Masters title-holder Robert Renauer is delighted to have been chosen as the first member of the Club of Champions: "It's great to be the first ADAC GT Masters driver to join the new Club of Champions. The tailor-made jacket fits like a glove and will get a place of honour in future public appearances." Renauer expressed his confidence about the forthcoming season: "In Thomas Preining, I have a young and highly motivated team-mate to share the cockpit with. He gave ample evidence during the tests that he is fast on track. Making any kind of forecast is difficult, but I'm hopeful that we'll be up there at the front again this year."

"You can sense the tension building up, because there are only a few days until it all kicks off at Oschersleben," says ADAC Motor Sport Director Thomas Voss. "I'm really looking forward to the new season of the ADAC GT Masters, when the fans will once again see great motorsport with thrilling races and a top-class grid populated by eight manufactures. The event here in Munich was a nice start to the race week and whets the appetite for what's to come."