ADAC GT Masters

ADAC GT Masters
Category	Grand Touring racing
Region	International
Drivers	42 (2023)
Teams	13 (2023)
Constructors	Various
Tyre suppliers	Pirelli
Drivers' champion	Elias Seppänen; Salman Owega
Makes' champion	Mercedes
Teams' champion	Haupt Racing Team
Official website	Official website
	Current season

The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT Masters ran their first season in 2007. Although the series is based in Germany, select events are run elsewhere in Europe.

ADAC GT Cup edit

The original ADAC GT Cup was created in 1993, as a national grand tourer championship similar to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM). The series initially used two divisions, with the upper class running a variety of sports cars, and the smaller class for small coupes. Following dwindling support for the top division, the two classes were combined in 1995. By 1997, the series continued to dwindle, as the series was running only small coupes instead of high powered sports cars. The championship was officially cancelled after the 1997 season as most teams turned to the VLN championship.

Competition edit

The ADAC GT Masters uses a similar formula to the one used in the FIA GT3 European Championship, also created by the SRO. The ADAC GT Masters is a "PRO-AM" Championship in which a professional driver shares a car with an amateur driver. The exact criteria for what determines an amateur driver and professional driver is laid out by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Drivers run in pairs, with each race requiring the team to make a pit stop and swap drivers.

The cars that run in the ADAC GT Masters are also regulated by the FIA. Only cars which have been approved are allowed to compete. Of the cars that are currently approved, all are artificially performance balanced in such a way that the performance of each type of car is as close to equal as possible. This makes the skills of the driver paramount. Current vehicles that will be running in the 2019 championship include Porsche 911 GT3 R, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo, Ferrari 488 GT3, Corvette C7 GT3-R, BMW M6 GT3, Lamborghini Huracan GT3, Mercedes-AMG GT3, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Honda Nsx GT3 EVO.

Each event consists of two races, with a duration of 60 minutes plus one lap. Each car must make a pit stop during each race and switch drivers. In the first race usually the amateur driver starts, if so the professional driver must drive the start in the second race of each round.

The current driver champions are Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies (Precode: Montaplast by Land-Motorsport – Audi R8 LMS Evo).

The ADAC GT Masters currently runs on German circuits, such as the Oschersleben, Nürburgring, Hockenheimring, and Sachsenring, although they also run events at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands, Autodrom Most in Czech Replublic and the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Champions edit

Season	Champion	Car	Team Champion	Secondary Class Champion
2007	Christopher Haase	Lamborghini Gallardo GT3	Reiter Engineering	P: Jan Seyffarth P: Frank Schmickler L: Christopher Haase
2008	Tim Bergmeister	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	Team Flatex-Reiter (2)	P: Tim Bergmeister L: Christopher Haase L: Albert von Thurn und Taxis Pit: #30 Hexis
2009	Christian Abt	Audi R8 LMS	Callaway Competition	A: Toni Seiler Pit: #6 Abt Sportsline
2010	Peter Kox Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3 (2)	Abt Sportsline	A: Toni Seiler (2) SRO: Jürgen Bender SRO: Martin Dechent
2011	Dino Lunardi Alexandros Margaritis	Alpina B6 GT3	Reiter Engineering (3)	G: Mark A. Hayek
2012	Sebastian Asch Maximilian Götz	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	MS Racing Team	G: Swen Dolenc
2013	Diego Alessi Daniel Keilwitz	Corvette Z06.R GT3	Prosperia C. Abt Racing (2)	G: Christina Nielsen
2014	René Rast Kelvin van der Linde	Audi R8 LMS ultra	Prosperia C. Abt Racing (3)	G: Handlos Herbert
2015	Sebastian Asch (2) Luca Ludwig	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert	G: Andreas Weishaupt
2016	Connor De Phillippi Christopher Mies	Audi R8 LMS	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	T: Remo Lips J: Connor De Phillippi
2017	Jules Gounon	Corvette C7 GT3-R (2)	Callaway Competition (2)	T: Remo Lips (2) J: Jules Gounon
2018	Mathieu Jaminet Robert Renauer	Porsche 911 GT3 R	HTP-Winward Motorsport	T: Remo Lips (3) J: Sheldon van der Linde
2019	Patric Niederhauser Kelvin van der Linde (2)	Audi R8 LMS Evo	Rutronik Racing	T: Sven Barth J: Max Hofer
2020	Michael Ammermüller Christian Engelhart	Porsche 911 GT3 R (3)	SSR Performance	T: Elia Erhart J: Tim Zimmermann
2021	Ricardo Feller Christopher Mies (2)	Audi R8 LMS Evo (5)	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport (2)	T: Florian Spengler J: Ricardo Feller
2022	Raffaele Marciello	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (3)	Mann-Filter Team Landgraf	T: Florian Spengler (2) J: Ben Green
2023	Elias Seppänen Salman Owega	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (4)	Haupt Racing Team	J: Elias Seppänen Salman Owega