The ADAC GT Masters made its debut on 8th June 2007 on the programme for the ADAC 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. This weekend (12th to 14th July), the series is back at the same venue, where it will contest its 250th race as part of the ADAC Truck Grand Prix. We take a look back at the history of the series and results from seasons past.
The ADAC GT Masters is now in its 18th season, making it the longest-running GT3 series in the world.
Since 2007, the ADAC GT Masters has lined up at 13 racetracks in six different countries. The Nürburgring has hosted more events than any other circuit. The racing series has started 19 times in the Eifel Mountains, and is set to make its 20th appearance there this weekend.
The ADAC GT Masters has welcomed a lot of big names in its 248 races so far. They include six-time world rally champion Sébastien Ogier, Olympic and word downhill champion Patrick Ortlieb, ski jumping star Sven Hannawald, and Olympic bobsleigh champion Christoph Langen. Others to have taken their place on the starting grid include Albert, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, who actually won the Drivers title in 2010, Malaysian Prince Tunku Hammam Sulong, and Bernhard van Oranje from the Netherlands. Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles has also tried his hand in the “League of Super Sports Cars”.
In Ascari, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, BMW Alpina, Chevrolet, Corvette, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes, Nissan and Porsche, a total of 18 different manufacturers have gone head to head in the ADAC GT Masters.
The fastest race so far in the ADAC GT Masters, with an average speed of 170.9 km/h, was the Sunday race in Spielberg in 2017, which was won by Christian Engelhart and Rolf Ineichen from GRT Grasser Racing Team in a Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
15 former Formula 1 drivers have started in the ADAC GT Masters, including world championship runner-up Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Markus Winkelhock, Karl Wendlinger, Bernd Schneider, Jan Lammers, Mika Salo, Christian Klien and Jack Aitken, who is currently racing in the DTM.
13 women have appeared in the “League of Super Sports Cars” since 2007. In Claudia Hürtgen (7 wins) and Rahel Frey (2 wins), two of them have made it onto the top step of the podium. American Taylor Hagler is the only woman currently competing in the ADAC GT Masters.
Four pairs of twins have lined up in the ADAC GT Masters. Both Alfred and Robert Renauer, and Dennis and Marc Busch have raced in the series in the past. This year, twins are sharing the driving duties in two cars. As well as Sandro and Juliano Holzem, the 2024 field also includes Michael and Johannes Kapfinger.
The eventual winner has started from pole position in 106 races.
Frank Kechele is the best qualifier in the ADAC GT Masters, having secured pole position on nine occasions. When it comes to the cars, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 has topped the timing sheet 28 times in qualifying – more than any other car.
Lamborghini is the top manufacturer in qualifying, with 53 pole positions to its name. Audi is second in this statistic with 48 fastest qualifying times.
Sebastian Asch, 2012 champion, holds the record for the most appearances, having started 190 races in the ADAC GT Masters.
156 different drivers, 52 teams and eleven manufacturers have won at least one race in the ADAC GT Masters.
With 26 race wins between 2009 and 2015, the first generation of the Audi R8 LMS is the most successful car in the ADAC GT Masters.
Leading the top three drivers with the most overall victories is Daniel Keilwitz with 22 wins. He is followed by Christian Engelhart (18) and Christopher Mies (13).
The most successful manufacturer in the ADAC GT Masters is Audi with 50 victories. Porsche has amassed 43 wins, ahead of Lamborghini with 38 triumphs.
The Callaway Competition team claimed 35 overall victories during its time in the ADAC GT Masters, making it the most successful team in the history of the series. The Corvette outfit led by Ernst Wöhr and Giovanni Ciccone raced in the series from 2007 to 2021 – longer than any other team. The Reiter Engineering team has taken its place on the top step of the podium on 21 occasions. Grasser Racing Team is third with 14 wins.
Double strike: the same pair of drivers has won both races on 20 weekends in the ADAC GT Masters.
Three pairs of brothers have tasted victory together in the ADAC GT Masters: Jörg and Tim Bergmeister, Ferdinand and Johannes Stuck, and Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde.
Robert Renauer and Michael Joos are the only two team principals to have won races as drivers.
Christopher Haase, the inaugural champion, endured the longest barren spell. A full nine years passed between his race win at the Sachsenring in 2011 and his latest victory at the Lausitzring in 2020.
Tom Kalender was just 16 years and 32 days old when he became the youngest race winner in the series in Oschersleben in 2024. He had made his ADAC GT Masters debut just one day previous. The oldest race winner is Klaus Ludwig at 58 years, 10 months and 13 days. The motorsport legend won both races at the Nürburgring in 2008 alongside Dominik Schwager in a Corvette.
26 drivers have been crowned champion in the ADAC GT Masters. Five drivers claimed the title alone, as they started with different team-mates over the course of the season. In the history of the series, three drivers have managed to win the title twice: Sebastian Asch (2012, 2015), Kelvin van der Linde (2014, 2019) and Christopher Mies (2016, 2021).
In 2023, Landgraf Motorsport became the first team to successfully defend the Drivers title in the ADAC GT Masters. The champions that year, Salman Owega and Elias Seppänen, also went down in the history books as the youngest champion duo.
The 2020 season was the most diverse in the history of the series, with 24 different drivers and 12 teams winning at least one of the 14 races.
