Marvin Kirchhöfer returns to the Swabian team. Second season for Jeffrey Schmidt in the Corvette C7 GT3-R. Callaway has been racing in the ADAC GT Masters since the inaugural season in 2007.

With one week remaining until the opening round of this season’s ADAC GT Masters, Callaway Competition has announced its driver line-up: Marvin Kirchhöfer (27/Leipzig) and Switzerland’s Jeffrey Schmidt (27) will share the driving duties in the Corvette C7 GT3-R run by the team from Baden-Württemberg. The new pairing will make its debut together next week (14th to 16th May), when Oschersleben hosts the opening round of the German GT Championship. New TV partner NITRO will broadcast both races live and in full.

“We are very pleased, in the present circumstances, to have the opportunity to bring Marvin back to the team. We were able to come to an agreement quickly,” says team founder and managing director Ernst Wöhr, who will send the Corvette into action with a new livery. Team principal Mike Gramke is optimistic ahead of the new season: “Marvin is a fast and very professional driver. I am very pleased to be working with Marvin again, and that we have such a strong pairing together with Jeffrey.”

Kirchhöfer drove for Callaway Competition in 2018 and 2019, during which time he won six races with the oldest-serving team in the ADAC GT Masters. In 2018, he finished third in the overall standings. After one season away, the Saxon now returns to the ADAC GT Masters. In doing so, he rejoins the most successful team in the history of the series, with 34 race wins, two Driver titles and two Team titles to its name. “After a one-year break, I am obviously intrigued to see how this season plays out,” says Kirchhöfer. “Callaway Competition is extremely experienced and always did a good job in my two previous seasons with them. The team and the car were always competitive and good for a podium. That should be our goal again this year.”

This season, Jeffrey Schmidt is looking to build on the experience he gained in the powerful V8 sports car last year, and to add to his victory at the Sachsenring. “Marvin and I were team-mates in the 2012 ADAC Formula Masters and have known each other since our karting days,” says the Swiss. “We get on very well away from the racetrack too, which makes the work far easier. Marvin is a fast team-mate and we will push each other to improve. I think we are a very strong pairing, so I am setting my goals high. I want to get back on the podium – and not just once.”