Special honour for new champions
A special award was conferred on Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart on the winners' podium at Oschersleben. The new title holders were admitted to the ADAC GT Masters Club of Champions which is organised by the ADAC GT Masters in association with series partner and gentlemen's outfitter herrenausstatter.de. The Porsche duo were kitted out with blue jackets sporting embroidered club badges and gold lining. These are exclusively tailored by the gentlemen’s outfitter for the members of the ADAC GT Masters Club of Champions.
Congratulations from Porsche
Fritz Enzinger, Head of Porsche Motorsport, was delighted with SSR Performance's title win and congratulated the Munich-based racing team: "The high-calibre competitive environment in the ADAC GT Masters demands the utmost commitment from all contestants. I am therefore all the more delighted for our customer team, SSR Performance, that they were able to win the title in their debut season with the 911 GT3 R. As a three-time Porsche Supercup champion, Michael Ammermüller has been able to use his extraordinary experience with the 911 to the advantage of his team."
Sporting attitude
Gottfried Grasser was also fulsome in his praise of new champion Christian Engelhart. From 2016 to 2019, the Bavarian had competed for the GRT Grasser Racing Team in the ADAC GT Masters, finishing as championship runner-up once and posting six victories during this period: "I would like to congratulate Christian Engelhart on winning the drivers' championship. It is nice to see our former drivers succeed on their subsequent career path."
Multiple winners 1
Victory for Philip Ellis and Raffaele Marciello in Sunday's race at Oschersleben means that a total of 24 drivers from twelve teams made it to the top step of the podium this season. Ten drivers celebrated an ADAC GT Masters maiden win.
Multiple winners 2
No fewer than six manufacturers chalked up at least one victory in the 14 races that were contested over the course of the season. Porsche and Mercedes-AMG were the most successful, claiming four wins each.
Porsche podiums
Although Porsche ace Robert Renauer (Precote Herberth Motorsport) narrowly missed out on the title in the end, there is one category in which the Bavarian driver tops the list this season, namely for podium finishes where his personal tally is seven. "This just goes to show how well our Porsche worked on every track on the calendar," said the championship runner-up. "Our team has done a great job, and I am extremely proud of what we were able to achieve together again this year."
Impressive debut for Toksport WRT
Maro Engel was also satisfied with the season. Together with Luca Stolz, the Mercedes-AMG driver was third overall in Toksport WRT's first ADAC GT Masters campaign. "Everyone in the team started the season with ambitious objectives - that was apparent right from the start. The car was well prepared, and we did some highly instructive tests ahead of the first races. The team was also really well set up in terms of staff, from the engineers and the mechanics through to the team management. This was also reflected in the results. It's a pity that we just missed out on the title in the end, but it was a very strong season all the same."
Satisfaction at Schütz
Even though Schütz Motorsport had to settle for a P18 and a P16 at Oschersleben, just outside the points, team principal Christian felt that, on balance, the season had gone well: "We have absolutely achieved our goal. We wanted to prove that, despite our initial lack of experience, we were capable of competing at or near the front, and that's what we did. The victory at the Sachsenring was of course the absolute highlight and a nice reward for our efforts."
Looking forward to 2021
Schubert Motorsport hope to compete in the ADAC GT Masters next year as well. "The comeback season was very intensive for the team," conceded team boss André Schubert. "We started the year with three newcomers and had to make up for the lack of experience with the BMW M6 GT3 on the ADAC GT Masters circuits. We have been successful in that regard, and we would be delighted to build on the progress we've made next year."
Palpable progress
Audi sports driver Pierre Kaffer, competing in the ADAC GT Masters alongside partner Elia Erhart for the third year in a row, found words of praise at the end of the season: "Compared to the two previous years, we moved a lot closer to the leading cars in the ADAC GT Masters in 2020. This gives us an incredible amount of self-confidence for the future. Broadly speaking, we have learned a lot this season and, despite setbacks in the meantime, we have always stuck together as a team. Winning the Pirelli Trophy classification was certainly our biggest achievement, and I am especially happy for Elia Erhart. I would also like to say a big thank you to the ADAC, who made seven events possible for us despite the corona crisis. We are all extremely pleased about this, and thank you very much for your commitment."
Successful end to the season
BWT Mücke Motorsport posted their best result of the season at Oschersleben. Stefan Mücke and Ricardo Feller finished seventh and tenth on the final weekend, and Feller also registered a win in the Pirelli Junior classification on Saturday. "A positive weekend," said Mücke. "We have seen an upward trend over the last three race fixtures after we carried out a restructuring exercise. Overall, it was a tumultuous weekend, but we stayed out of trouble. We drove clean races and had a consistently fast car. That was the key to the two Top Ten finishes."
Compelling statistics
Rolf Ineichen driving a Team WRT Audi not only made it onto the overall podium on Sunday but also posted wins number five and six in the Pirelli Trophy classification at Oschersleben - which corresponds to a victory rate of 60 percent. In the battle for the class title, however, the Swiss was out of the picture, as he didn’t compete in four of the 14 races.
Zakspeed: Full attack mode in 2021
A lean spell came to an end for Zakspeed this season. For the first time since 2016, the long-established racing team got back into winning ways. The team intends to build on their one victory of 2020. "Oschersleben was the last event of a season that was full of ups and downs for us," say team bosses Peter and Philipp Zakowski. "The win at the Lausitzring was the 482nd in the history of our team. But we also had to cope with some setbacks and DNFs along the way. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the whole team, who really did a great job. And also all of our partners who have remained loyal to us throughout this difficult season and under the prevailing conditions. This winter, we will be making intensive preparations for the next season and then go into full attack mode again next year."