In an exciting season finale of the ADAC GT Masters 2020, Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart won the driver and team championship for the German crew of SSR Performance
Of in total 14 races SSR Performance was the only team to win three
Stefan Schlund, Managing Director SSR Performance GmbH: "That was really not
for the faint of heart – I congratulate our drivers and the whole team on this sensational achievement!"
Oschersleben/München, 8 November 2020 – Game, set and match! The season finale of the ADAC GT Masters 2020 was not for the faint of heart! In the end, the SSR Performance team with Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart celebrated overall wins in driver and team classification. With three wins during the 14 races season, SSR Performance also was the most successful team.
Michael Ammermüller and Christian Engelhart, who share the steering wheel of the up to 550 hp SSR Porsche 911 GT3 R during the ADAC GT Masters race weekends, started the season finale in Oschersleben in impressive style: During qualifying for the Saturday heat, as always, the first of two races over the weekend, Michael Ammermüller powered the SSR Porsche 911 GT3 R to the second pole position of the season for the Munich-based newcomer team. "It cannot get any better. It is particularly important in Oschersleben, to start the race from first place on the grid, because overtaking is extremely difficult on this track. We already recognized in the free practice, that our Porsche works very well, and we were able to make use of it. Now, of course, we want to win the race too,” the experienced racer said happily.
Come race day, Ammermüller got off to a good start in bright sunshine in Oschersleben. He was able to defend the lead and continuously expanded it lap by lap. But after an accident between two competitors, who subsequently got stuck in a gravel bed, the race was interrupted after 13 laps for safety reasons. At the restart, Ammermüller was able to control the lead again. After a late mandatory pit stop without any issues, he handed the leading Porsche over to team mate Christian Engelhart. He was able to maintain the lead until a safety car period again caused an interruption. Engelhart stayed cool and was able to defend his lead at the restart, eventually achieving a much-acclaimed third win of the season. With this success, Ammermüller/Engelhart took the overall lead as well as SSR Performance conquering the lead of the team championship.
Stefan Schlund, Managing Director of SSR Performance GmbH from Munich, said: "That was really a sensational performance, I'm proud of our drivers and the whole team. Our car was performing great as well!" Christian Engelhart added:" For today we can say: mission accomplished! Michael did a tremendous job. I took over the car with a lead of more than a second. But then it got tricky. There was so much dirt on the track, a lot of cars lost fluid, it was extremely slippery and I had to be extremely careful."
During the qualifying for the Sunday heat, Christian Engelhart achieved third place on the grid. Due to the team’s victory on Saturday, an additional 30 kilograms of success ballast had to be loaded to the SSR Porsche 911 GT3 R for the second race of the weekend.
The last race of the season got off to a turbulent start. While Engelhart's Porsche was bumped into a spin, one of his championship rivals, Audi’s Patric Niederhauser, collided somewhere down the field. As a consequence, the race was temporarily stopped. After the restart, Engelhart defended third place despite the additional 30 kilograms on board the SSR Porsche 911 GT3 R. He knew that fourth place would be enough for the championship. After a smooth mandatory pit stop, Michael Ammermüller took over and was able to secure exactly this fourth place for winning driver and team championship of the ADAC GT Masters 2020! Stefan Schlund, Managing Director SSR Performance GmbH: "That was really not for the faint of heart – I congratulate our drivers and the whole team on this sensational achievement!"
"I am totally relieved and super happy. We worked hard all year and made less mistakes than the competition. We had a great team spirit, everyone could rely on each other," said Michael Ammermüller happily. Team mate Christian Engelhart added: "What an incredible season, we made it. Together with Michael I managed to have a great season. The team provided us with a perfect car, we didn't have the slightest technical problem during the whole season”. Team boss Wolfgang Hatz emphasized: "We came to Oschersleben and said to ourselves: We will win the championship. This plan really worked out!"