Dominik Schwager

Dominik Schwager is a German racing driver who currently competes in the German GT championship (ADAC GT Masters). Earlier in a career, Schwager spent almost a decade in Japanese major competitions, mostly in the Super GT Series, finishing best in the third place in 2007.

Dominik Schwager

Formula BMW Junior champion early in a career

Born in August 1976 in Munich, Schwager spent his teenage years in karting competitions. He switched to formula racing in 1994, joining Formula BMW Junior and winning the title in 1995.

In 1996, he made a step up to the German Formula 3 Championship. Next year, he stayed in the same competition as a member of the Benetton Junior team, winning two races and finishing tenth in the points. Schwager's next open-wheel competition was the International Formula 3000 in 1998 when he was driving for the French team Oreca.

Moving a career to Japan in 1999

In 1999, Schwager made a most significant step of his career by moving to Japan. He entered two Japanese major competitions – Formula Nippon and GT Championship.

Driving the #17 Lola-Mugen for Team TMS, Schwager earned one single point to finish 15th in Formula Nippon standings. In the Japanese GT Championship, he participated in selected races with Team Taisan, winning three times in a Porsche 996 GT3-R while sharing a car with Hideshi Matsuda.

Concentrating to GT races from 2000

This early success in GT races led to a decision that he would concentrate to Japanese GT Championship only. He joined Nakajima Racing to compete in the GT500 class with Honda NSX, sharing the #64 Mobil 1 car with Daisuke Ito. They won two times, at Sugo and Suzuka, to finish fourth in the championship.

Schwager stayed in the #64 Mobil 1 Honda NSX in 2001, sharing a car with Tsugio Matsuda. They were race winners once, at Twin Ring Motegi, finishing eighth in the final points.

Returning to Formula Nippon in 2002

In 2002, Schwager had a part-time schedule with Dome Mugen Project in the GT Championship, scoring two podiums in four races in the #16 Honda NSX, but he also returned to the Formula Nippon, spending almost a full season with Team LeMans.

Driving the #7 Reynard-Mugen in eight races, he scored no wins or podiums to finish 13th in the championship.

Double Japanese programme in 2003

In 2003, Schwager had a double programme, participating full seasons in both Japanese major championships. In the Formula Nippon, he was driving the #4 Lola-Mugen for Kondo Racing, not scoring points in ten races.

In the GT Championship, he was driving the #39 Toyota Supra for Team SARD, sharing a car with Manabu Orido. They were race winners at Autopolis to finish sixth in the overall standings.

Dominik Schwager's #25 Toyota Supra in 2004

Two seasons with Team Tsuchiya

In 2004, Schwager reduced his racing programme to Japanese GT Championship only, driving the #25 Toyota Supra for Advan Team Tsuchiya. He was sharing a car with Manabu Orido, finishing 12th in the points with two podiums.

In 2005, when the competition has been renamed to Super GT Series, Schwager and Orido remained partners in the #25 Toyota Supra, with Hideki Noda replacing Orido in one race. Schwager won a season-opening race at Okayama and finished 15th in the final classification.

Le Mans 24h debut in 2005

Parallel to his commitments in Japan, Schwager made a debut at 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 2005. He was driving the #12 Courage C60 Hybrid-Judd for Courage Competition, sharing a car with Christian Vann and Alexander Frei. They were 8th overall and 6th in LMP1 class.

Having no contract with Japanese teams in 2006, Schwager spent that season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, driving for Team Herberth. He scored no wins or podiums, finishing eighth in the points.

Schwager's #100 Honda NSX in 2007

Third place in the 2007 Super GT Series

Schwager returned to Japan in 2007, joining Team Kunimitsu to drive the #100 Honda NSX in the Super GT Series. His co-driver was Shinya Hosokawa. They scored three podiums during the season, finishing third in the points.

Schwager's last season in Japan was 2008 when he participated in two Super GT races with Nissan. He and Sebastien Philippe were 12th at Sugo. His second race was the Suzuka 1000, where he finished fourth together with Michael Krumm and Masataka Yanagida.

Three wins in the 2008 ADAC GT Masters

In 2008, Schwager also made a debut in the ADAC GT Masters, participating in three rounds (six races) with Callaway Competition's #57 Chevrolet Corvette. Sharing a car with Klaus Ludwig, he won three of those six races and added two more podiums.

In 2009, Schwager became a development driver for Alpina's GT3 program but also participated in the VLN endurance series at Nurburgring Nordschleife with Hankook H&R Spezialfedern's Porsche 997 GT3.

Dominik Schwager (right) and Nicky Pastorelli during their FIA GT1 period

Two FIA GT1 seasons with Münnich Motorsport

In 2010, Schwager joined Münnich Motorsport in the inaugural season of the FIA GT1 World Championship. He was sharing the #38 Lamborghini Murcielago LP670 R-SV with Nicky Pastorelli. They were rarely among point-scorers, finishing 32nd in the final standings.

The team retained Schwager and Pastorelli in the 2011 FIA GT1 season. They won one race (Navarra) and added three more podiums to finish 8th in the points at the end of the season.

In 2011, Schwager also made two starts with West Yokohama Racing's Lamborghini Gallardo in the American Le Mans Series, at Sebring 12h (DNF) and Long Beach.

Among many manufacturers, Schwager also raced ith BMW

Racing with BMW and Ford in the ADAC GT Masters

In 2012, Schwager joined Schubert Motorsport to drive the #20 BMW Z4 GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters. His teammate was Claudia Hurtgen. They won one race, at Hockenheimring, finishing fifth in the points.

Schwager also raced with Schubert's BMW in the VLN series and at 24 Hours of Nurburgring, finishing in the eighth place. In 2013, he continued to drive BMW in the VLN series but switched to Ford GT GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters, driving for Lambda Performance team. His partner was Frank Kechele and they won two races, both at Hockenheim, to finish 11th in the points.

Dominik Schwager in 2016

Back to full-time racing schedule in 2016

In 2014, Schwager slowed down his racing activities, participating in just one ADAC GT round, driving Team Herberth's Porsche at Sachsenring.  He spent most of the season with Ford in the VLN series. In 2015, Schwager participated in only two races of the Blancpain Endurance Series with Black Pearl Racing with Rinaldi, driving a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 at Circuit Paul Ricard and Nurburgring.

Schwager returned to the full-time racing schedule in 2016, driving the #69 Chevrolet Corvette C7 GT3-R for Callaway Competition in the ADAC GT Masters. Sharing a car with Patrick Assenheimer, he scored two podiums in fourteen races to finish tenth in the points.

Dominik Schwager as Ferrari driver in 2018

Ferrari GT driver in 2018

Schwager was out of racing in 2017, participating only at Nurburgring 24 Hours with Renault RS01, and then became Ferrari driver in 2018. He participated in one round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, taking Pro-Am class victory at Monza in the #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 488 GT3.

On the other side, Schwager joined HB Racing to drive the #7 Ferrari 488 GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters. He and Luca Ludwig raced together in four rounds (eight races), scoring one podium in the season-opening round at Oschersleben.

Photos: motorsport.com,