"This is my first title win in the ADAC GT Masters with our team," said 38-year-old Barth. "It is therefore, something quite special, particularly as the other drivers in the Pirelli Trophy standings are no slouches, for sure! Rolf Ineichen, for example, always delivers a strong performance and fights for race wins, and even proper amateurs like Remo Lips still have a realistic chance of lifting the title thanks to the points system which works really well. I've just missed the title twice in the last two years, once in 2017 when I was runner-up, and then again in 2018 when I was third, so I'm delighted now to have finally done it."

Barth cites several reasons for his success: "Our car's performance was much improved this year. We hired a second engineer, who works freelance. He helped us a great deal, providing expertise in data analysis. That freed up our race engineer to spend more time setting up the car. David Jahn, who has just returned to us, was also an important factor. He really knows what he's about, plus, we always managed to quickly find a good setup for the car together early on during race weekends - something we were never successful at in previous few years. That was also reflected in better results in qualifying which are the very basis of success in the ADAC GT Masters."

The way the season went reflects the significant increase in performance. Barth made a strong start at the opener in Oschersleben. Not only did he win two trophies, but he also competed for podium finishes in the overall standings along with team-mate Jahn without having done any prior testing during the winter. "Unfortunately, I had to struggle, as the windscreen was smeared with oil in the first race and then made a mistake in the rain just before the finish, which cost us a podium. That annoyed me immensely, because it's not often that you get the chance to finish on the podium in the ADAC GT Masters." However, they achieved the podium results they had hoped for in the next rounds at Most and Spielberg where Barth and Jahn took a third and a second place. "That was really great. We'd scored more points after the third race weekend than ever before in team history and were even in third place in the standings." They suffered a minor setback at Zandvoort with their first retirement, but Barth continued to maintain his lead in the championship for amateur drivers with two Trophy wins at Zandvoort and his seventh win in class of the season on Saturday at Hockenheim. They were then able to wrap things up in their home fixture thanks to second place on Sunday.

Barth's route into the ADAC GT Masters was not straightforward but he finally made it via a series of detours and dead ends. After starting in karting, the driver from Weinheim near Heidelberg, whose family all prefer handball, switched to single-seater racing at the age of 19 in 2000 and secured his first title a year later in Formula Volkswagen. After finishing championship runner-up in German Formula 3, he began racing at an international level in 2004 and quickly achieved one of the highlights in his career, winning the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup on Monaco's street circuit under the banner of the Formula 1 Grand Prix. "I was subsequently involved in a German Formula 1 project with Toyota. I'd even signed a contract, but unfortunately, nothing came of it, and I had to put my career on hold for a while the following year because of a lack of sponsorship money. I found that real tough, because up until then, things had looked very promising in formula racing," said Barth in retrospect. This was then followed by several years, during which, not a great deal happened as regards motor racing. He did a variety of things, worked as an instructor for Volkswagen and contested amateur races only occasionally. "I finished my engineering degree instead."

In the meantime, Barth had got to know RWT Team Principal, Gerd Beisel, with whom he undertook three guest outings in the ADAC GT Masters at the wheel of a Corvette in 2013. RWT Racing actually stands for Rennwagen-Technik (Racing Car Technology) but the acronym has been changed by the team for a joke to Rot-Wein-Trinker (Red Wine Drinkers)! Barth has remained loyal to the Super Sports Car League ever since. "I owe a great deal to Gerd," said Barth, with whom he is now related after marrying Beisel's daughter some three years ago. "He brought me into the team. We've had a long and fruitful partnership and it's been great fun." David Jahn became RWT's second driver in 2014. The two of them secured the outfit's only race victory to date at the Nürburgring. There then followed several years, during which Barth was partnered by mostly amateur drivers - including Remo Lips, who won the 2016 Pirelli Trophy with the outfit from the small, south-German town of Eberbach.

Barth works full-time as a graduate in process engineering and jokingly calls himself 'office driver'. He may be modest, but he is in eighth place in the overall rankings of the Super Sports Car League along with Jahn in the run-up to next week's season finale. They intend to defend their position: "Although we never played a major role at the Sachsenring with the Corvette last time out, we would like to remain in the Top Ten, which would be a great end to a great season and a huge coup for RWT Racing after winning the Pirelli Trophy."