Christian Abt (born 8 May 1967) is a former race car driver and entrepreneur born in Kempten, Germany.

Christian Abt
Christian Abt in 2008
NationalityGermany German
Born (1967-05-08) 8 May 1967 (age 57)
Kempten, West Germany
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Racing licence FIA Silver
Years active20002007
Former teamsAbt Sportsline
Joest Racing
Phoenix Racing
Starts102
Wins1
Podiums9
Poles2
Fastest laps8
Best finish7th in 2002
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years19992000
TeamsAudi Sport UK
Audi Sport Team Joest
Best finish3rd (2000)
Class wins0

His elder brother Hans-Jürgen Abt runs the Abt Sportsline Audi racing teams as well as their tuning company for Audi and Volkswagen.

Career History

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Christian Abt started his career in motocross. 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 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 Audi 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.

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 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

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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 Kempten.

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

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Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1999   Audi Sport UK Ltd.   Stefan Johansson
  Stéphane Ortelli
Audi R8C LMGTP 55 DNF DNF
2000   Audi Sport Team Joest   Michele Alboreto
  Rinaldo Capello
Audi R8 LMP900 365 3rd 3rd
Sources:[1][2]

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2000 Abt Sportsline 1 Abt-Audi TT-R 2000 HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

Ret
OSC
1
OSC
2
NOR
1

Ret
NOR
2

DNS
SAC
1

Ret
SAC
2

DNS
NÜR
1

18
NÜR
2

18
LAU
1

C
LAU
2

C
OSC
1

10
OSC
2

Ret
NÜR
1

19
NÜR
2

14
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

Ret
19th 1
2001 Team Abt Sportsline Audi TT-R DTM 2001 HOC
QR

10
HOC
CR

10
NÜR
QR

NC
NÜR
CR

Ret
OSC
QR

8
OSC
CR

6
SAC
QR

3
SAC
CR

9
NOR
QR

5
NOR
CR

17
LAU
QR

5
LAU
CR

18
NÜR
QR

3
NÜR
CR

DSQ
A1R
QR

18
A1R
CR

DNS
ZAN
QR

1
ZAN
CR

2
HOC
QR

8
HOC
CR

11
10th 29
2002 Abt Sportsline Abt-Audi TT-R HOC
QR

4
HOC
CR

7
ZOL
QR

5
ZOL
CR

2
DON
QR

12
DON
CR

2
SAC
QR

8
SAC
CR

16†
NOR
QR

DSQ
NOR
CR

DNS
LAU
QR

3
LAU
CR

7
NÜR
QR

5
NÜR
CR

9
A1R
QR

12
A1R
CR

9
ZAN
QR

2
ZAN
CR

7
HOC
QR

5
HOC
CR

13
7th 15
2003 Abt Sportsline Abt-Audi TT-R 2003 HOC
20†
ADR
DSQ
NÜR
8
LAU
9
NOR
7
DON
Ret
NÜR
Ret
A1R
Ret
ZAN
11
HOC
9
12th 3
2004 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM 2004 HOC
Ret
EST
10
ADR
Ret
LAU
9
NOR
14†
SHA1
Ret
NÜR
13
OSC
9
ZAN
Ret
BRN
12
HOC
8
16th 1
2005 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi A4 DTM 2004 HOC
4
LAU
9
SPA
10
BRN
6
OSC
12
NOR
2
NÜR
10
ZAN
10
LAU
Ret
IST
Ret
HOC
14
9th 16
2006 Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi A4 DTM 2005 HOC
Ret
LAU
Ret
OSC
17
BRH
5
NOR
10
NÜR
10
ZAN
Ret
CAT
10
BUG
9
HOC
7
13th 6
2007 Audi Sport Team Phoenix Audi A4 DTM 2006 HOC
Ret
OSC
10
LAU
17†
BRH
8
NOR
10
MUG
Ret
ZAN
6
NÜR
15
CAT
11†
HOC
15
16th 4
Sources:[2][3]

1 - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

  • † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

References

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  1. ^ "Christian Abt". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Christian Abt Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Christian Abt". Motor Sport. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Super Tourenwagen Cup Champion
1999
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Tim Bergmeister
ADAC GT Masters Champion
2009
Succeeded by