Callaway Competition - In the ADAC GT Masters like at home
Callaway Competition is a racing team that competes in ADAC GT Masters and it is the oldest serving team in the series. German offshoot of US Corvette tuner Calloway, with headquarter based in Leingarten was founded in 1985 by Ernst Wohr and Giovani Ciccone, while the racing department got its name in 1994.
Callaway Competition garage
The company has been focusing since its foundation on body manufacturing, vehicle repairs and racing modifications. Since 2006 Calloway Competition, the company has built more than 20 GT3 Corvettes but Callaway Competition also manufactures customized carbon fiber parts.
Callaway Competition – 2009 ADAC GT Masters champions
The cars prepared by Callaway has competed in all ADAC GT Masters races so far with various models of Corvette. The first season of ADAC GT Masters went well for the Callaway Competition. Team finished fourth in overall standings and won one race by Toni Seiler and Patrick Gerling.
Luca Ludwig, Callaway Competition, 2009 ADAC GT Masters
Next year team didn’t compete in the series because it was preparing for 2009. Callaway Competition won the Teams’ championship. The team scored four wins in 14 races, while the drivers Marc Hennerici and Luca Ludwig were runner-ups.
Runners-up in 2012
2010 wasn’t so successful for the Callaway Competition. The team was fourth in the Teams’ championship failing to win a single race in its Corvette. Things were even worse for Callaway Competition in 2011 after finishing in eighth place, but in 2012 significant improvement was made. Callaway Competition took two victories, both by Diego Alessi and Daniel Keilwitz, which was enough for the second place in the Teams’ championship.
Daniel Keilwitz, Corvette Z06 GT3
Keilwitz and Alessi won the ADAC GT Masters title in 2013, winning five out of 16 races in the season in Corvette Z06.R GT3. But, their excellent performances weren’t enough for the second Teams’ title and Callaway Competition again was the runner-up. Keilwitz stayed with the team in 2014 and managed to win six out of 16 races, this time paired with Oliver Gavin and Andreas Wirth. But, their form was inconsistent and at the end of the season, they finished third in overall standings, just like their team.
New Corvette for the new beginning
In 2015, Callaway Competition fielded two cars, but the season wasn’t brilliant. The team finished 7th in the standings, just like Keilwitz and Andreas Wirth in the Drivers’ championship. That was the last season for the successful Corvette Z06 R GT3 and the team switched to the new Corvette C7 GT3.
Callaway Competition’s Corvette C7 GT3 at Circuit Park Zandvoort
The season of 2016 was much better. Now with three cars on the grid, the Leingarten-based team played more important role in ADAC GT Masters. Jules Gounon and Daniel Keilwitz scored three wins, at Sachsenring, Lausitzring, and Red Bull Ring. They were contenders for the title until the very last race of the season but their championship hopes were ended after Gounon’s huge crash at Hockenheim. However, two drivers finished 3rd in the final standings, while the team finished as a runner-up, losing to Land Motorsport by only eight points.
Photo: adac-motorsport.de corvettemotorsport.com speedsport-magazine.com callaway-competition.de
