ADAC GT Masters champions Asch and Götz: Mr Explosive and the Iceman

• Fourth season in ADAC GT Masters sees Asch title win
• Götz secures title with first ADAC GT Masters victory in Hockenheim

Brains, strategy and plenty of sportsmanship: That was the recipe for the title win of Sebastian Asch (26, Ammerbuch) and Maximilian Götz (26, Uffenheim / kfzteile24 MS RACING team) in the ADAC GT Masters. No driver pairing has been as consistent in this season’s ADAC GT Masters. Not a single pair of drivers has finished on the podium as often as the two Mercedes-Benz drivers, who secured the championship with their first win in Hockenheim.

Team boss Harald Böttner summed up his two drivers, saying: “The two new champions could not be more different. Maximilian is an Iceman through and through, and no one and nothing can upset him. Sebastian, however, fizzes like a powder keg ready to explode. If things are not going Sebastian’s way, he quickly flips, which does however not affect his driving. Maximilian, however, is always calm and stays cool in all situations. Temperamentally, our two champions could not be more different but are very similar as regards driving style and make a perfect team.”

Just as their characters are very dissimilar, the career paths of the ‘Men in Black’ have been quite different so far. Whilst Asch found his way into the ADAC GT Masters through the junior touring car classes, Götz took the classic route through single-seater racing.

The road to becoming a racing driver was marked out for Sebastian Asch, son of touring car legend Roland Asch at an early age. Asch Jnr followed in his father’s footsteps at a tender age and learned his craft in the Ford Fiesta ST Cup and in the Seat Leon Supercopa. The 26-year old driver from southern Germany got his first start in the ADAC GT Masters in 2008 at the wheel of a Lamborghini. After a season contesting the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2009, Asch returned with Porsche in the ADAC GT Masters and drew attention to his skill by winning the first race of the season in 2010. The title ambitions of the by now triple ADAC GT Masters race winner became clear in 2011 when he reached the final stages of the battle for the championship. Asch moved from Porsche to Mercedes-Benz during the winter period, to the manufacturer with whom his father had enjoyed supreme success in the DTM. Asch has now chalked up the greatest achievement of his career driving the Gullwing Mercedes in his 60th ADAC GT Masters race. “I had high hopes a few years ago of taking the championship in the Seat Leon Supercopa at the finale in Hockenheim and was runner-up. I vowed that weekend that it would never happen again.”

Maximilian Götz first made a name for himself in the junior Formel ADAC series ten years ago. He graduated to Formula BMW ADAC in 2002 and lost the title fight by a whisker to the current Mercedes AMG Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg. Götz was to secure the title one year later, defeating two-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel in the process. His career then ground to a halt. In Formula 3, the 26-year-old was unable to demonstrate his true potential. “My time in Formula 3 was very tough; I never got to drive a complete season and did not have the best of equipment,” says Götz. In 2011, Götz signed with kfzteile24 MS RACING and completed his first ADAC GT Masters season driving the Mercedes-Benz. He finished on the podium for the first time in the grand finale at Hockenheim twelve months ago. “I didn’t have a drive at all for a number of years, which now makes securing the title in the ADAC GT Masters all the sweeter,” a happy Götz said.

The victory in the final race of the season also gave kfzteile24 MS RACING the title in the team standings. The only thing that went missing at the Mercedes-Benz outfit on Sunday was the voice of Roland Asch, Sebastian’s father. “What a way to finish the season! I’ve lost my voice,” he croaked with emotion.