HOCKENHEIM, Germany — Salman Owega (20, Cologne) and Finn Wiebelhaus (19, Obertshausen) are the champions of the 2025 ADAC GT Masters.
The duo, driving a Ford Mustang GT3 for the Haupt Racing Team, secured the title early in Saturday’s race at the Hockenheimring.
A ninth-place finish was enough for Owega and Wiebelhaus to clinch the championship, while their rivals Leyton Fourie (20, RSA) and Tim Zimmermann (29, Langenargen) only finished 13th.
“It’s simply incredible; at the start of the season, we never would have expected to be up here and become champions. The team did a fantastic job,” beamed Wiebelhaus, who also won the 2025 “Road to DTM.” ”
Today’s result wasn’t perfect, but the points are enough, and that’s what matters!” Owega is now the fifth two-time ADAC GT Masters champion and, at 20 years and 132 days old, the youngest driver to achieve this feat.
“I’m very happy to be champion again. It was a long and hard journey when we decided to compete this season with Ford and Finn. The car was unknown to our team and also quite new in general. Now we can say that we did everything right.”
The team championship has also already been decided early in favor of the Haupt Racing Team. The squad from Drees has secured the title for the third time in a row – something never before achieved in the ADAC GT Masters. It is also the first title ever for the Ford Mustang GT3.
Victory in the first race at the Hockenheimring went to Nico Hantke (21/Hürth)/Denis Bulatov (26/both Scherer Sport PHX) in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2 ahead of Simon Birch (18/DNK)/Leo Pichler (23/AUT/both Razoon – more than racing) with the Porsche 911 GT3 R. The podium was completed by their brand colleagues Alexander Schwarzer (36/DEU)/Alexander Fach (23/CHE/Fach Auto Tech), who defended their title in the Pro-AM Cup.
Polesitter Birch took the lead on a wet track and held it comfortably until the pit stop, while Bulatov moved up to second place at the start. After the driver change, a duel developed between leader Pichler in the Porsche and Hantke in the Audi.
Just a short time later, Hantke took the lead with an impressive maneuver around the outside and steadily extended his lead until the checkered flag. It was the second victory for Scherer Sport PHX this season.
“The race went absolutely perfectly, and we got the most out of it. We pushed at the right moments, saving our tires while our competitors were wrecking them. That brought us the win,” revealed Bulatov. “Denis did a great job in the first few laps, keeping the car consistently at the front and not letting it get too far away. As the weather dried out more and more during my stint, I still had good tires and was able to attack.”
Pichler took over the Porsche from the lead, but needed a few laps to find the right rhythm in the damp conditions.
“I quickly noticed that Nico was coming from behind and wasn’t defending vigorously,” explained the Austrian, who also had to defend second place against the onrushing Fach in the final laps. “It got really close again, but I fought hard to hold on to this position and am now very happy with second place.”
With this result, the Porsche drivers have moved up to second place in the overall standings and will now battle Fourie/Zimmermann for the runner-up spot in the final race of the 2025 season.
“We are determined to defend this position and give something back to the team. It is also their first season in the ADAC GT Masters and second place in the drivers’ standings would be a fantastic reward,” added Birch.
The joy was no less evident in their third place on the podium. With this result, Fach/Schwarzer managed to clinch the Pro-AM Cup championship early, thus defending their title from the previous year.
“I have no words, I can’t believe it,” beamed Schwarzer about the title and third place in the overall standings. “I completely blocked it out and just drove.”
During the driver change, however, the duo initially experienced a moment of shock, as the pit stop timer malfunctioned, resulting in brief chaos.
“Luckily, we got it under control,” said Fach. “It took me a few laps after the change to find the grip, but I did a great job. As soon as I found my line, I was able to attack fully, and the car ran like clockwork. Many thanks to the team. We’re both very happy to have such a good car.”
Jannes Fittje (26, Langenhain) and Moritz Wiskirchen (23, Euskirchen/both SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm) finished fourth in their Mercedes-AMG GT3, having held third for much of the race but ultimately had to concede defeat to the Fach Porsche. Finn Zulauf (21, Königsstein) and Simon Connor Primm (20, Großschirma/both Paul Motorsport) completed the top five in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
