New team champions: kfzteile24 MS RACING Team

• Mercedes-Benz team wins title in second year
• Consistency takes team to top
• kfzteile24 MS RACING Team secures points in 15 of 16 races

Winning a championship is a piece of cake, you just have to be at the top of the table once during the season – at the very end – which is how kfzteile24 MS RACING Team won the ADAC GT Masters team championship on Sunday with their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Florian Stoll (31, Rickenbach) and Daniel Dobitsch (28, Austria) were third in the penultimate race of the season on the home stretch of the championship, and Sunday’s win for new drivers’ champions Sebastian Asch (26, Ammerbuch) and Maximilian Götz (26, Uffenheim) sealed victory for the Mercedes-Benz outfit in the team standings, ahead of Callaway Competition who run Corvettes.

Terrier-like approach: steady, unremitting effort takes team to top

You might say that the new Team Champions had an unremarkable season but mean it in a most positive way; Asch/Götz scored points in 13 of 16 races and with eight podiums finished in the top three more frequently than any other driver pairing. Only in one race did the kfzteile24 MS RACING Team fail to enjoy a points-scoring finish in the 2012 season. Team boss Harald Böttner explains their deliberate tactic to stay low key: “We took the decision to go for consistency before the start of the season at Oschersleben. We knew early on that we had an excellent racing car but not one that could win every time out, so we had to rely on being consistent.” The strategy worked really well, but their game was finally rumbled at the Nürburgring last July when Asch and Götz put their black Gullwing on pole in both races. In one of the races, though, the only error of 2012 perhaps cost them a first season win: the Mercedes-Benz was called in too late for a pit stop and was handed a stop-and-go penalty.

Unassuming, purposeful on the outside

The Black Forest crew also maintains a low profile in the paddock – apart from their bright-orange racing car transporter – where the Mercedes team appear down to earth and practical. Four mechanics prepare the two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGs between race weekends at their headquarters in Waldshut-Tiengen, but the team can number 18 in all on a race weekend. Böttner is especially keen on bringing team members up through the ranks and reveals one of the secrets of his success: “We train many of our mechanics ourselves. We have two car dealerships which is where we find trainees for the racing team. That way, we also avoid transferring know-how to other teams when staff move on. Making the most of what you’ve got is important in the ADAC GT Masters, and we have done that brilliantly well this season.”

The ADAC GT Masters is not the only area where the kfzteile24 MS RACING Team is active. They have been contesting the Porsche Sports Cup since 2010 after winning the Porsche Carrera Cup in 2009. “The team is a really tight-knit squad,” says Maximilian Götz, singing their praises. “We always work in a calm and collected manner, and everyone does a great job. We are based miles from anywhere in the Black Forest and there is very little to do, which is another factor in producing outstanding workmanship.”

Watch during the first year – strike in the second year

That the kfzteile24 MS RACING Team was a force to be reckoned with in the ADAC GT Masters must have been crystal clear to all their opponents even before the start of the season. In 2009, their second year in the series, Harald Böttner’s team secured victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup with Thomas Jäger. Last season, the team moved up into the ADAC GT Masters with the Gullwing Mercedes and have now also won this championship title in their second year.

The newcomers were very impressive right from the start in 2011, their debut year. At the Red Bull Ring, Thomas Jäger achieved the first of the three first pole positions secured by the kfzteile24 MS RACING Team so far, heading on to the Lausitzring and the first of two victories with Florian Stoll. “Watch during the first year, strike in the second year”, said kabel eins TV presenter Patrick Simon on Sunday evening at the official awards ceremony in Hockenheim as a very happy team boss accepted the team title trophy from ADAC Sports President Hermann Tomczyk on behalf of the kfzteile24 MS RACING Team.