ADAC GT Masters 2014 season review
The ADAC GT Masters 2014 season started at the end of April at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben and ended at first weekend of October at Hockenheim. In total, 16 races at eight tracks were held and the drivers championship was won by Prosperia Christian Abt Racing drivers Rene Rast and Kelvin van der Linde.
This German-South African pairing in Audi R8 LMS Ultra won the title with margin of 26 six points above Dutch Jaap van Lagen from GW IT Racing Team Schutz Motorsport who was in seat of Porsche 911 GT3 R. Third overall was defending champion Daniel Keilwitz, driver of Corvette Z06 and member of Calloway Competition team who managed to win 30 points less than winners.
“We started our first race with an eye to the title. Our tactic was to consistently score points and not take any risks. Last year, you could be in title contention despite not scoring. We wanted to be a bit cleverer this season and consistently finish in the points. It became obvious that our chances were very good after a double victory at the Sachsenring and our subsequent decent lead in the standings”, said Rast after clinching the title, while van der Linde added:
“We couldn’t be certain during the season, because we never knew what surprises van Lagen’s Porsche might have in store for us. However, after the double victory at the Sachsenring, we knew that there was very little that could go wrong. But really, I never had time to worry much about the standings, because the entire season went by in a flash”.
Interesting fact is that Keilwitz won most races (6) in the ADAC GT Masters 2014 season, four of them with Andreas Wirth and two with Oliver Gavin, but he failed to win any point in five races. Another interesting fact is that Keilwitz scored more points than in the previous season when he was champion, but it wasn’t enough to clinc another trophy. With 14 victories in his career, Keilwitz also became the most successfull driver in the history of the series.
“In the ADAC GT Masters, it´s not simply a matter of who wins the most races. You have to be consistent and avoid any slip-ups for a successful title challenge This yeas was different of last one“, summarized Keilwitz.
Rast and van der Linde finished season with three victories. Fastest in two races, both at home soil in Zandvoort, was van Lagen in pair with Kevin Estre and same number of victories in the season had Pixum Team Schubert pairing Claudia Hurtgen and Dominik Baumann, as well Maximilian Gotz and Maximilian Buhk from HTP Motorsport team. Reminding race victory was taken by Sven Barth and David Jahn form RWT Racing Team.
In the teams competition title was also won by Prosperia Christian Abt Racing with just four points more than Callaway Competition, only team with four entries in the ADAC GT 2014 Masters season, and eight points more than third placed Pixum Team Schubert.
