ADAC GT Masters·16.10.2020

200 thrilling races, 20 interesting facts: We're celebrating the ADAC GT Masters special anniversary!

The ADAC GT Masters held its inaugural race at the Nürburgring June 8th, 2007. The Super Sports Cars League is contesting its 200th race at the Red Bull Ring this weekend. We take a look back in time and at results from the past 14 seasons.

- Since 2007, the ADAC GT Masters has raced at 13 racetracks in six countries. The Nürburgring has staged the most meetings, 16 in all to date.

- 589 drivers have competed in the 198 races held so far. A driver, who took part in Race 1 will also contest Race 200. Christopher Haase, pole-sitter and race winner from the inaugural event at the Nürburgring, is currently sixth in the standings and currently shares the drive in the Audi R8 LMS from Montaplast by Land Motorsport with Max Hofer.

- Technical diversity has always been important in the ADAC GT Masters. 34 different models from 19 manufacturers have been deployed so far. Vehicles with engines at the front or mid-engined cars have achieved 83 victories each in the 198 races to date. Racing cars powered by engines mounted at the rear, used only by Porsche, triumphed 32 times.

- Having taken 26 race wins, the first-generation Audi R8 LMS used from 2009 to 2015 is the most successful vehicle in the ADAC GT Masters.

- Callaway Competition are the longest-serving team in the series. The outfit from Leingarten in south-west Germany has been an integral part of the ADAC GT Masters since 2007. Corvette, Porsche and Lamborghini are the only three manufacturers whose vehicles have competed in each of the 14 seasons and in every race.

- Since 2007, plenty of famous names have competed in the ADAC GT Masters on a regular basis, including: Six-time rally world champion Sébastien Ogier, downhill Olympic and world champion skier Patrick Ortlieb, ski-jumping star Sven Hannawald, Olympic bobsleigh champion Christoph Langen , Albert von Thurn und Taxis - he even won the driver's title in 2010, the Thai prince Tunku Hammam Sulong and Bernhard van Oranje from the Netherlands, plus Brazilian film director Walter Salles. They all dared to face the challenge of the Super Sports Car League!

- Sebastian Asch is the most experienced driver, having contested 171 races so far.

- The fastest race in the ADAC GT Masters to date was Sunday's round at Spielberg during the 2017 season with an average speed of 170.9 km/h, won by Christian Engelhart and Rolf Ineichen in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 from GRT Grasser Racing.

- In 2008, driving a Lamborghini Gallardo, Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Christopher Haase won by the biggest margin in a rain-hit race at Assen, finishing a clear 55.285 seconds ahead of the competition. The narrowest victory, on the other hand, was achieved in 2015 by Dominik Baumann and Jens Klingmann in the BMW Z4 at the Sachsenring. They were a mere 0.126 seconds ahead of their rivals in second place.

- In 79 of the previous 200 races, the eventual winner started from pole position.

- 124 different drivers, 43 teams and eleven brands have won at least one race in the ADAC GT Masters so far with Daniel Keilwitz (22 wins) leading the way in the drivers' standings, Callaway Competition (34) ahead in the team stakes and Audi (43) best manufacturer.

- Elia Erhart and Pierre Kaffer gained 26 places in 2018 on their way to victory on Sunday at the Sachsenring, making theirs the biggest charge up the field for a winning driver pairing.

- Sweeping the board: 19 times a driver pairing has managed to win both rounds over a single ADAC GT Masters race weekend.

- Kelvin van der Linde was the youngest race winner at Oschersleben in 2014, aged 17 years, 10 months and 7 days, and the oldest race winner was motor racing legend Klaus Ludwig at 58 years, 10 months and 13 days old. He won both races in a Corvette at the Nürburgring in 2008 together with Dominik Schwager.

- 13 ex-Formula 1 drivers have started in the ADAC GT Masters so far, including world championship runner-up Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Markus Winkelhock, Karl Wendlinger, Bernd Schneider, Jan Lammers and Mika Salo.

- Twelve women have competed in the Super Sports Car League since 2007, two of whom, Claudia Hürtgen (7 wins) and Rahel Frey (2 wins), have managed to finish on the top step of the podium.

- Three sets of brothers have achieved victory in the ADAC GT Masters: Jörg and Tim Bergmeister, Ferdinand and Johannes Stuck plus Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde.

- It doesn't get any closer: 0.002 seconds decided the closest qualifying session in the ADAC GT Masters when Kelvin van der Linde won through at Oschersleben in 2014. Mirko Bortolotti achieved the same feat at the Nürburgring in 2019.

- In 2020 at the Lausitzring, 31 vehicles were covered by just one second in Q2 - making this particular quali the closest in series history.

- So far, 20 drivers have won the ADAC GT Masters championship title. Four of them became sole champions, because they lined up with different team-mates over the course of the season while drivers shared the championship in nine seasons. Sebastian Asch (2012, 2015) and Kelvin van der Linde (2014, 2019) are the only drivers to have won the drivers' championship twice so far. No one has ever managed to successfully defend the ADAC GT Masters title.