Land Confirms Two Audi Evos for 2019; New Driver Lineup

Montaplast by Land Motorsport will run a pair of Audi R8 LMS Evos in ADAC GT Masters this year with three new drivers signed for the season.

Christopher Mies is the only member of the team’s 2018 lineup to be retained, with the Audi factory driver confirmed alongside 19-year-old Max Hofer in one of the cars.

Hofer made his GT3 debut last year with Audi customer Phoenix Racing and won the first race of the campaign at Oschersleben with fellow rookie Philip Ellis.

Land’s second car will be driven by Ricardo Feller, who drove a BWT Muecke Motorsport Audi last year, and Dries Vanthoor, who moves across from the EFP by TECE Audi squad.

The German squad finished second in the 2018 standings with brothers Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde taking two victories and finishing on the podium a further four times.

Mies, meanwhile, co-drive with three separate drivers last season with his best result of the year coming at Zandvoort where he finished third partnering recently-announced Aston Martin DTM driver Jake Dennis.

“With Ricardo Feller and Max Hofer, we have acquired the services of two very promising talents,” said team principal Wolfgang Land.

“They have both impressed us with their strong performance and have earned this opportunity. Along with Audi Sport drivers Christopher Mies and Dries Vanthoor, they form a potent team who are capable of achieving podium finishes in the ADAC GT Masters.

“After coming second in the drivers’ and team rankings in 2018, this year’s goal is to take the title, for sure.”

Van der Linde Joins New Audi Team

Series runner-up Kelvin van der Linde, meanwhile, will switch to the new HCB-Rutronik Racing team this season.

The 22-year-old South African’s co-driver has yet to be confirmed, while Dennis Marschall and Carrie Schreiner are already set to contest the full-season in its other Audi R8 Evo.

Van der Linde’s 19-year-old brother Sheldon, who clinched the 2018 junior class title, was recently confirmed as part of BMW’s DTM driver lineup. 

The only other Audi team to have announced its GT Masters pairing is T3 Motorsport, which is running a previous-gen R8 for Maximilian Paul and Simon Reicher.