Once again, the 13th season of the ADAC GT Masters threw up a whole range of exciting, interesting facts and figures. A quick look at the statistics shows precisely why the Audi pairing of Kelvin van der Linde (23, ZA) and Patric Niederhauser (28, CH, both HCB-Rutronik Racing) were the ones to beat in the Super Sports Cars League, but other drivers and teams also did extremely well in 2019.
The secret behind van der Linde and Niederhauser’s success was their consistency. They took podiums from seven out of 14 races during the season – the top score of anyone in 2019. By way of comparison, their main rivals, championship runners-up Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart (Lamborghini) finished just four times in the Top Three. Some 36 drivers in all secured podiums
Including the champions, three pairs of drivers – Bortolotti and Engelhart plus Corvette duo, Marvin Kirchhöfer and Markus Pommer – took three wins this season
With an average position on the grid of 5.14, no driver crew started from as far up the field as van der Linde and Niederhauser in the course of the season, which was another reason for the new champions’ success
With 114 laps in the lead from a total of 538, Bortolotti and Engelhart led the ADAC GT Masters field most often while champions van der Linde and Niederhauser spent 111 laps in P1
The championship lead changed hands between three different driver pairings during the season. After the first race at Oschersleben, Markus Pommer and Marvin Kirchhöfer were in the lead, but defending champions Robert Renauer and Thomas Preining went ahead after Sunday’s race at Oschersleben. The eventual champions took over the top spot which they kept until the season finale in the third race of the season at Autodrom Most
Kelvin van der Linde is the ADAC GT Masters’ second two-time champion. The South African was the youngest driver ever to secure the title in the Super Sports Car League when he achieved his first success in 2014. As a result, van der Linde is now level with Sebastian Asch, who was champion in 2012 and 2015
Mercedes-AMG drivers Indy Dontje and Maximilian Götz clinched the most decisive win of the season on Saturday at the Sachsenring with a lead of 31.684 seconds. The closest victory was in the first race at the Red Bull Ring when Jens Klingmann and Nicolai Sylvest won through by just 0.289 seconds in the BMW M6 GT3
16 drivers from eight teams achieved at least one win this season. Champion Patric Niederhauser, Thomas Preining (Porsche), Nicolai Sylest (BMW), Timo Bernhard (Porsche), Ricardo Feller and Dries Vanthoor (both Audi) took their maiden wins
Audi secured four wins in 2019 – more than any other manufacturer
Austrian Max Hofer won the title in the Pirelli Junior classification. With four wins in class, the Audi driver was also the most successful in the races
Corvette driver Sven Barth was the one to beat in the Pirelli Trophy classification. The champion in the amateur category secured nine class wins in the races while five went to Lamborghini driver Rolf Ineichen
With three pole positions, Lamborghini ace Mirko Bortolotti was the strongest driver in qualifying followed by his Orange1 by GRT Grasser team-mate Franck Perera and champion, Kelvin van der Linde with two poles each
79 drivers from 15 countries representing 22 teams in all contested this year’s seven race weekends
Ricardo Feller from Switzerland was the youngest in the field for the third time in a row. The Audi driver celebrated his 19th birthday June 1st. The oldest to contest a race this year was a guest entrant at the Nürburgring, Klaus Abbelen, aged 58
Source. ADAC GT Masters
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