Schmidt: Callaway contract for his birthday
TOLLE CHANCE Callaway is one of the most successful teams in the ADAC GT Masters. With Jeffrey Schmidt, who celebrates his 26th birthday on March 23, a Swiss driver will once again be driving for the Corvette team after a long time. Callaway Competition has been an integral part of the ADAC GT Masters field since its inception in 2007. With 33 victories and two titles each in [...]
Callaway Competition has been an integral part of the ADAC GT Masters field since its inception in 2007. With 33 victories and two titles each in the drivers' and team championships, the team from Leingarten near the Hockenheimring is one of the most experienced and successful squads in this GT3 racing series.
Replacement was needed
At the beginning of 2020, overlaps with other racing series and, not least, the Corona virus hampered the planning of the driver squad. In the end, Callaway did not get the go-ahead for Marvin Kirchhöfer, a German who lives in Lucerne and is contractually bound to R-Motorsport from St. Gallen.
A new driver therefore had to be found alongside Markus Pommer. His place is now taken by Jeffrey Schmidt, who celebrates his 26th birthday on March 23 with the Callaway contract in his pocket.
Disappointing previous season
The driver from Liestal has been competing in the ADAC GT Masters since 2017, but so far exclusively in Audi R8 LMS cars. In 2018, he claimed his first victory from pole position in Most (CZ). In total, Schmidt has been on the podium seven times in 42 races so far, most recently in the 2019 season opener in third place at Oschersleben. After that, things did not go well for Team Mücke Motorsport.
Jeffrey Schmidt: "Overall, 2019 was very disappointing for me, for my partners and sponsors. We fell well short of my expectations. I was satisfied with my own performance in the car. I overtook a lot and always fairly and always handed over the car in one piece or drove it to the finish. From my side, there's not much I could have done better."
High expectations
That's in the past. It should not be down to Callaway Competition that things are not looking up again with Jeffrey Schmidt and that they are fighting for the title as in 2019. Despite a successful start to the season with three victories, the team had to bury all its championship ambitions after the penultimate round. Two severe collisions damaged the Corvette so badly at the home race in Hockenheim that the team was unable to compete in the finale at the Sachsenring.
Jeffrey Schmidt: "I would like to thank Ernst Wöhr, Giovanni Ciccone and Team Callaway Competition for the trust they have placed in me. After a disappointing 2019 season, I am now looking forward to the new challenge and the promising collaboration with them and my new teammate Markus Pommer. We are well positioned and have set ourselves high goals."
Long wait for the start of the season
Pommer and Schmidt will share a rebuilt Corvette C7 GT3-R developed by Callaway Competition, which will compete with the traditional starting number #77.
However, it is still uncertain when, where and how the ADAC GT Masters will start the season in 2020 due to the current Corona pandemic.
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