Christian Abt (born 8 May 1967) is a former

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

driver and entrepreneur born in

Kempten Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His elder brother Hans-Jürgen Abt runs the

Abt Sportsline Abt Sportsline is an auto racing and auto tuning company based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany. Abt mainly deals with Audi and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands—Volkswagen, Škoda, and SEAT—modifying them by using sports-type su ...

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

racing teams as well as their tuning company for

and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

Career History

Christian Abt started his career in

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

. In 1983, Abt became the German Motocross Champion. From 1986 to 1988, he won the German OMK Motocross Cup of the Southern Group in the 125 cc class three times. In 1990, Abt switched to four wheels with the ADAC Formula School and won the title. In 1991, Abt won the Formula BMW Junior with a 29-point lead over the later rally driver Lars Mysliwietz. A year later, Abt finished 13th in the German Formula 3 Championship and was the overall winner of the B rating. Abt remained in formula racing until 1995 but was unable to achieve notable success compared to his first years. In 1996, he switched to

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

and finished fourth in the family-owned racing team in the Super Tourenwagen Cup. In the following two years, Abt was placed in the midfield of the Super Tourenwagen Cup. In 1999, Abt became the last champion of the Super Tourenwagen Cup in a controversial finale. Before the race at the Nürburgring, both Abt and Opel driver Uwe Alzen had chances for the title. At the end of the last lap, the order on the track was as follows: Kris Nissen (Abt Audi), Uwe Alzen, Christian Abt, and behind them Roland Asch (Opel). Nissen had already been lapped and was clearly holding up the following drivers. Asch had been disqualified earlier due to an incident but had not left the track. Alzen and Abt were in second and third place, behind Tom Kristensen (Honda). With this order, Abt would have been champion with an eight-point lead. In the NGK chicane, Nissen and Alzen first collided after the latter missed his braking point. In the last corner, Asch and Abt touched, causing Abt to retire. Alzen, who could continue with a broken suspension, would have been the champion. However, 24 days later, the DMSB Sports Court decided not to count the last lap of the race, awarding the championship to Abt. In 2000, Abt-Sportsline entered the DTM as a private team. However, the performance of the

TT-R was significantly disadvantaged compared to the factory-built AMG Mercedes CLK-DTM and Opel Astra V8 Coupé. The same year, Abt finished third with Team Joest at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. His best overall placement in the DTM was seventh place in 2002. In 2005, Abt switched teams and got a year-old car from Audi Sport Team Joest Racing. After a mixed season in 2007, Abt ended his career in the DTM. In 2008, Abt started for Tolimit Motorsport in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and finished 14th overall. In 2009, Abt won the

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

and was runner-up at the 2009 24 Hours of Nürburgring. With Team Prosperia UHC Speed, Abt was 33rd overall in the GT Masters. The following year, Abt took over the team and served as team manager until 2016. In 2017, after a five-year hiatus as a driver, Abt finished third in the SP-X category at the 2017 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Personal Life

Christian Abt has been married and has two children - Nina and Emely. In June 2017, Abt ended his three-year career as a city councillor for the Free Voters in

. Christian Abt is not the only race driver in his family. His father Johann Abt started racing in 1952 with a DKW motorcycle. His brother, Hans-Jürgen Abt, competed in the Ford Fiesta Mixed Cup and the ADAC GT Cup, among others. His wife, Margit Abt, was active in the Ford Fiesta Mixed Cup and the Seat Leon Supercopa. Their son Daniel Abt drove in the FIA Formula E Championship from 2014 to 2020.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ¹ - Shanghai was a non-championship round. *† — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

References

External links

Christian AbtAbt Sportsline company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abt, Christian 1967 births 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers German racing drivers Living people Sportspeople from Kempten im Allgäu Racing drivers from Swabia (Bavaria) Swedish Touring Car Championship drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers Audi Sport drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Team Joest drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers