Luca Ludwig

Luca Ludwig is a German sports car racing driver whose greatest achievement so far is a championship title in the 2015 ADAC GT Masters, together with Sebastian Asch in Team Zakspeed's Mercedes. Ludwig was two more times in the top 3, finishing 2nd in 2009 and third in the 2010 ADAC GT season.

Luca Ludwig is a son of German racing legend Klaus Ludwig.

Luca Ludwig and his father Klaus

Championship runner-up in a debut season

Born in November 1988, Luca started his sports car racing career in 2009, driving a Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06.R for Callaway Competition in the ADAC GT Masters. His partner in a debut season in the #17 Corvette was Marc Hennerici.  They had a fantastic start of the season, winning both races of the opening round at Oschersleben. They were winners one more time, in the fifth round at Nurburgring, finishing second in the final championship standings, behind Audi's Christian Abt.

In 2009, Ludwig also participated in two rounds of the FIA GT3 Championship, driving a Corvette for Marc Sourd Racing at Portimao and Circuit Paul Ricard, sharing a car with team owner Marc Sourd.

Third place in the first season with Audi

For the 2010 ADAC GT season, Luca joined Abt Sportsline to drive the #1 Audi R8 LMS alongside Christopher Mies. Their first win came in the second round at Sachsenring and second win in the fourth round at Assen. In the season's finale at Oschersleben, Ludwig was sharing the #2 Audi with Jens Klingmann, winning the second race of the weekend. Ludwig ended a season third in the points.

Outside championship, Ludwig participated at 24 hours of Nurburgring with Phoenix Racing, sharing the #97 Audi with Markus Winkelhock, Marc Bronzel and Dennis Rostek. They finished third overall and the first in the SP9 GT3 class.

Luca Ludwig was driving Audis from 2010 to 2013

One victory in the 2011 ADAC GT season

In 2011, Ludwig stayed with Abt Sportsline in the ADAC GT Masters, sharing the #3 Audi R8 LMS with Christopher Mies. Their only victory was in the second round at Sachsenring.  In the last two rounds, Ludwig was sharing the #4 Audi with Jens Klingmann, finishing fourth in the final championship standings.

In that year's Nurburgring 24 Hours, Ludwig was driving Audi for Abt Sportsline, finishing 8th in the SP9 GT3 class. His co-drivers were Christer Jons and Christopher Mies.

Combining McLaren and Audi in 2012

For the 2012 ADAC GT season, Ludwig joined Gemballa Racing to drive the #37 McLaren MP4-12C GT3 alongside Sascha Bert. After three rounds with McLaren, he moved to Prosperia uhc speed team for Nurburgring's round, driving Audi R8 LMS together with Christian Abt. It was his last race in that year's championship. Scoring no points in four races, Ludwig was out of classification.

In the remainder of the season, Ludwig participated with Audi at 24h Nurburgring, in one round of the Blancpain Endurance Series and a couple of rounds of the VLN endurance series.

Combining Audi and Mercedes in 2013

In 2013, Ludwig had a part-time schedule with Mercedes in the Blancpain Endurance Series and ADAC GT Masters. He was driving Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 for HTP Motorsport and Black Falcon in two BES races and for Polarweiss Racing in one round of the ADAC GT Masters. He was also driving Mercedes at Malaysia Merdeka Endurance race.

In 2013, Ludwig also recorded few appearances with Audi, driving for Phoenix Racing in the VLN series and at Nurburgring 24 Hours. He finished 8th in the SP9 GT3 class at the 24-hour race.

Joining Team Zakspeed in 2014

For the 2014 ADAC GT Masters season, Ludwig joined BKK Mobil Oil Racing Team Zakspeed to drive a full season in the #21 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

Alon Day was his co-driver in seven rounds and they scored one podium at Nurburgring. Harald Schlegelmich joined Ludwig for season's finale at Hockenheim, they were second in the first race of the weekend. Ludwig finished 11th in the final classification of the championship.

2015 ADAC GT Masters champions - Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig

ADAC GT Masters champion in 2015

For the 2015 ADAC GT Masters season, Sebastian Asch joined Ludwig in the #21 Mercedes. Opening the season with three podiums in four races, their first win came in the third round at Spa-Francorchamps. Later they added two more wins at Lausitzring and Zandvoort,  to finish the season as champions.

In 2015 Nurburgring 24 Hours, Ludwig failed to finish the race in a Mercedes he was sharing with Sebastian Asch, Tom Coronel and Christian Vietoris.

Luca Ludwig in 2015

Two wins in the #1 Mercedes

Luca Ludwig and Sebastian Asch stayed together in 2016, driving the #1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Team Zakspeed. They won the season-opening race at Oschersleben and one more in the second round at Sachsenring. Later in the season, they scored two podiums only, finishing sixth in the championship standings.

At Nurburgring 24 Hours, Ludwig was sixth in the #75 Mercedes he was sharing with Kenneth Heyer, Sebastian Asch and Daniel Keilwitz.

In 2016, Ludwig was driving the #1 Mercedes

Luca and Luca together in the 2017 ADAC GT season

In the 2017 ADAC GT season, Ludwig was driving the #21 Mercedes again. His new co-driver was Luca Stolz. They were on a podium two times, at Lausitzring and Nurburgring, before being disqualified from Sachsenring's round. They reached one more podium in season's finale at Hockenheimring, finishing 11th in the final standings.

Outside ADAC GT Masters, Ludwig had a one-off appearance in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, driving for Team Zakspeed at Monza.

Luca Ludwig competed with Ferrari in 2018 and 2019

Switching to Ferrari in 2018

For the 2018 ADAC GT masters season, Luca Ludwig joined the Austrian team HB Racing to drive the #7 Ferrari 488 GT3. Over the season, he had three different co-drivers, finishing 12th in the points.

In 2019, he stayed in the #7 Ferrari, sharing a car with his old partner Sebastian Asch. Without wins or podiums, they finished 15th in the final standings of the ADAC GT Masters.

Photos: Luca Ludwig FB,