32-year-old Erhart has been competing in the Super Sports Car League since 2016. This season for the first time, he won the title in the competition for amateur racing drivers after securing three wins in class and as a result, was very upbeat as he summed up his year: "It was a great season and an amazing success," said Erhart. "Because, you see, I'm not a regular racing driver. I've got my own company, work at my job for 90 percent of the time and only drive for the remaining ten percent." He was able to compete for the first time in the Pirelli Trophy class as a bronze-class entrant in 2020. "I think the way the ADAC has organised the Pirelli Trophy classification is just great," he added. "The prize money and the 22 sets of Pirelli tyres for next season will be a great help, because our team is very small. I'm a big fan of the ADAC GT Masters. I want to race against the best - and that's exactly what I'm able to do."

It was a season with highs and lows for Erhart. "Consistency was certainly the key to our success," he said. And were there any highlights? "The season opener at the Lausitzring where we went out and promptly finished in the points, and the Red Bull Ring when I made a mess of qualifying but gained 15 places at the start. We narrowly missed a points scoring finish with P16 and 17 but managed to secure vital points in the Pirelli Trophy classification. We experienced a drop in performance around the middle of the season but then subsequently made great strides and narrowed the gap on the leading group. Unfortunately, we had a bit of bad luck every now and then as well. Two drive through penalties during the second Lausitzring weekend cost us crucial points and we had an engine fail at Oschersleben but still managed to finish, luckily. We often did well in the practice sessions but were unable to do the business in qualifying. The ADAC GT Masters is a tough but really great race series."

Elia Erhart has shared the cockpit with Pierre Kaffer for three years now, which has worked out very well. "I can trust Pierre one hundred percent," said Erhart. "He's a great guy as well and brings a great deal of commitment and initiative to our project." But the two racing drivers have a lot more in common than just sharing the drive in the Audi R8 LMS. "I've known Pierre from being a child. When I was seven, I used to go with my dad to the Norisring to help with setup. We came across Pierre just before the start. He was driving in Formula 3 at the time. Sweatbands were all the rage back then in the nineties. I had two and gave him one for good luck. He wore it in the race and came third. He came up and spoke to me a year later at the Norisring and still had the sweatband. I've been a big fan of Pierre Kaffer ever since."

Erhart found his way into motorsport through karting. "My dad was a bus driver and mum was a geriatric nurse, so we weren't all that well off. I went to the kart track along with a mate where a season cost around 90 marks and a race ten marks. I attended a karting camp for teenagers, because I wanted to spend a week karting. To my surprise, I won through against 120 other kids, and first prize was a free karting season. I went on to win the championship. Everything just seemed to just come together and it was a very happy time for me." The next step in his career was in a small car with a roof. "I took part in the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup scouting session in Kempten and qualified for training at Oschersleben." Erhart became one of the top 14 drivers, earning a cockpit for a season in the Polo Cup. "I had six weeks, in which to find 40,000 euros to contest the season and had to ask my parents to guarantee a loan for me. Following that, I went all over the place, knocking on doors in search of sponsorship money."

After three years in the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup, Elia Erhart switched to the SEAT Cupra Cup where he won the title in 2011 - incidentally with Aust Motorsport, a team who now also compete in the ADAC GT Masters. Via the Porsche Carrera Cup, Erhart eventually ended up in the ADAC GT Masters in 2016 and sensationally achieved his first overall victory in 2018 with Kaffer at the Sachsenring from 25th position on the grid.

Since 2018, Erhart has raced for his own outfit, EFP by TECE, which he set up together with Florian Spengler. Erhart has used Car Collection Motorsport for technical support, back-up at races and logistics since 2019. "We bought two cars plus spare parts initially and then made this equipment available to the team. I work in property and events management and would never be able to find the time to go to the workshop every day and sort out the races."

This will again be the case in 2021: "We'll have a similar setup for next year in the ADAC GT Masters" said Erhart. The racing driver from Röttenbach in Bavaria is keen to defend his title.