The 2020 ADAC GT Masters was a season of superlatives, with more race winners than ever before and the closest qualifying in history of the series. We take a look at the statistics and the results from the 14th Super Sports Car League campaign, in particular at the factors that contributed to Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart in the Porsche of Team SSR Performance taking the title this time.
There were 24 different drivers winning at least once in 2020 – a greater spread of honours than ever before. Twelve different teams also claimed winners’ trophies, which is also a series best.
No fewer than ten drivers registered a maiden victory in the Super Sports Car League in 2020: Dorian Boccolacci, Marvin Dienst, Maro Engel, Philip Frommenwiler, Eric Johansson, Raffaele Marciello, Henric Skoog, Charles Weerts, Mick Wishofer and Nick Yelloly. SSR Performance, Toksport WRT and Team WRT were first-time winners in the racing series.
Champions Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart were also the most successful pairing in terms of total victories. The two Bavarians won on three occasions and were thus the only contestants to occupy the top rung of the podium more than once in 2020. The same goes for their outfit, SSR Performance.
The new champions also set standards in terms of leading laps: they led the field for 98 of the 538 laps over the 14 races of the season.
Championship runner-up Robert Renauer – likewise in a Porsche – finished in the Top Three more times than anyone else, making seven podium appearances.
36 different drivers from 14 teams finished on the podium.
The most successful brands in 2020 were Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. The two Baden-Württemberg-based manufacturers each won four races.
Porsche and Audi shared top honours in terms of Top Three finishes, with twelve podiums each.
It was also a tie for most Pirelli Pole Position Awards, with champion Michael Ammermüller, Dennis Marschall and series newcomer Steijn Schothorst setting two fastest times each.
Topping the table for fastest race laps were Ammermüller and Schothorst along with Albert Costa Balboa, each of whom clocked the best lap time in two different races.
In six of the 14 races in 2020, the pole-sitters converted their grid advantage into victory.
Mercedes-AMG drivers Mick Wishofer and Dorian Boccolacci made up 16 positions in their triumph at the Lausitzring. It was the most productive charge through the field by a winning duo in 2020.
Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart as well as defending champions Patric Niederhauser and Kelvin van der Linde were the most consistent drivers of the season, scoring points in 13 out of 14 races.
In terms of class wins, Rolf Ineichen was the most successful contestant in the Pirelli Trophy classification (6 out of 12). Filip Salaquarda booked five class wins, with title winner Elia Erhart taking three.
82 drivers entered by 23 teams competed in at least one race in 2020.
The margin between pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor and the second-placed contestant in Sunday’s quali at the season opener was 0.010 seconds in the closest contest for P1 on the grid in 2020. It was the most competitive qualifying session in 14 seasons of ADAC GT Masters, with 31 cars within one second of each other.
The most dominant qualifying result was likewise recorded at the Lausitzring: Frédéric Vervisch was the fastest in the third-to-last quali of the season by a margin of 1.276 seconds. It is also the widest margin in the history of the Super Sports Car League.
Saturday at the Red Bull Ring produced the fastest race of the year, with the winning car clocking an average speed of 168.3 km/h.
In the final race at Oschersleben, Raffaelle Marciello and Philip Ellis took the chequered flag 17.699 seconds ahead of the second-placed car to chalk up the most dominant victory of the season. The tightest result of 2020 and the second-closest victory in the history of the ADAC GT Masters came at the Lausitzring in the eleventh race of the season as Christopher Haase and Max Hofer crossed the line 0.147 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Audi Sport driver Christopher Haase’s victory at the Lausitz makes him the only contestant to have won ADAC GT Masters races in three separate decades. His previous victories came in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2020.