The comeback of the outfit based in Bobenheim-Roxheim to the south of Frankfurt got off to a fine start. In the first qualifying session of the year at Oschersleben, Marvin Dienst put the black and yellow Mercedes-AMG GT3 bearing #36 in pole position. Although the former ADAC Motor Racing Junior of the year and his Australian team-mate fell back to fifth place during the rain-affected final stint, they made it clear that they and their outfit are a force to be reckoned with despite the fact that Schütz Motorsport was just celebrating its return to the Super Sports Car League. The team last competed in the series from 2012 to 2017, taking seven wins and eight pole positions but with vehicles manufactured by Porsche. Now, for the first time, a GT3 car with the star was in the pits at Schütz. What made the result even more unexpected was that the Schütz driver crew consisted of two juniors, and, this was Read’s very first year racing in Europe. The duo also shone in the second race at Autodrom Most and took the lead in the Pirelli Junior classification, which they defended until Zandvoort. Dienst and Read took second place in the highly competitive Junior classification at the end of the year.

"I feel very positive about this season," said Team Principal, Christian Schütz. "We had a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve. We wanted to see how we would get on with the car in race conditions and how well Marvin would do. We achieved good results at Oschersleben, Autodrom Most and at the Red Bull Ring. We almost won the season opener, so we were in contention right from the start. Unfortunately, it was a bit tough at the back, because the other teams did better and we didn’t, but of course, it was only our first season with the new car and with some new people who hadn’t worked in the ADAC GT Masters before. Overall, we can be well satisfied." The team analysed their drop in form: "We know what caused it and have already examined in detail what went well and what went wrong."

Although his outfit had only been away from the ADAC GT Masters for one year, Schütz could immediately see just how much the series had developed: "There has been another big leap forwards in terms of performance in the ADAC GT Masters in the last two years whether we’re talking teams, drivers or cars. They are all extremely well sorted. You have to pull everything together precisely in order to compete up front, and we weren’t good enough here and there. A tenth of a second deficit in qualifying can mean the difference of several places and you can’t catch up in the race, because the standard of drivers is so high."

Christian Schütz has a lot of praise for Marvin Dienst: "He was Mr Consistent. He did a really good job and was always the fastest Mercedes-AMG driver in qualifying, which we obviously really enjoyed, because the other teams are all highly professional and have had more experience with their cars." The team had planned to have a period of on-the-job training for their second driver. "With Aidan, we knew that he would find it harder. Practically all of the race tracks were new to him and he also had to get used to the way we race here. He improved quite considerably once again during the last two race weekends. He’ll be much stronger if he returns for a second season. We could have done even better in the Pirelli Junior classification with a bit more luck and fewer mistakes."

The team are now planning for next year and getting prepared. "This season was a lot of fun. The race directors and the series have introduced many improvements, so we have already entered to contest the ADAC GT Masters and the ADAC GT4 Germany and would like to compete up front again next year. Our plans include Marvin, and we will probably field the Mercedes-AMG once more, as we’re generally very pleased with it. Of course, there are still a few question marks regarding the second driver and the sponsors, you know, but we’re working on it!"