ABT HISTORY
1896
The decision was not easy for Johann Abt. But in 1896, he took the first step toward independence and founded his blacksmith shop in Kempten. The then 27-year-old master thus laid the foundation stone for a compelling company history.
1950
The decision was not easy for Johann Abt. But in 1896, he took the first step toward independence and founded his blacksmith shop in Kempten. The then 27-year-old master thus laid the foundation stone for a compelling company history.
1967
For a driver and tuner, Abarth is the benchmark; to drive for him is a dream. Johann Abt succeeded and in 1967 started with the exclusive manufacturer. There was still a long road ahead until the career breakthrough. The green sofa in Turin—Abarth was the non plus ultra in the sixties, whom no winner could approach, whether on the hill or the racetrack. But before the road to the cockpit, there was still the executive chair in Turin.
1978
If it goes, it goes very well. Touring cars are more popular than ever in Germany, and cars built by Abt are in high demand. Since 1978, Abt has won the VW Golf Cup three times and the Polo Cup once. Then they risked going abroad. All over the world—not only the Germans but also the Americans and the Japanese adored the VW Golf with a great cult following. An entire photo album arrived from Asia about the Tsukuba Challenge Cup.
1980
Stories of a long motorsport career are told more often during family evenings than big victories. the journey of Hans-Jürgen and Johann Abt to the United States, packed in a black box, is such a story.
1991-1992
It couldn’t be better. In the second year of his motorsport career, he won his second championship title: the B-classification of the Formula 3 championship. In Formula Junior, a beginner was allowed behind the wheel: Ralf Schumacher. No Formula 3 championship is as tough as the German one. Christian Abt disregarded this circumstance: he won the championship in the B-category with a last year’s car and was also in the top ten in the overall standings.
1999
Christian Abt achieved the greatest success of his life: with the help of an Abt Sportsline Audi A4 quattro, he clinched the STW championship title against the Opel and Honda factory teams. The season was exciting until the last lap. Abt Sportsline concentrated on the STW championship: in Kempten, two ’98 front-wheel-drive cars were converted with the quattro drive permitted for private teams. The Hasseröder-yellow cars were driven by Christian Abt and Kris Nissen. Engineers Albert Deuring and Wolfgang Schmid did a perfect job.
2000
Participation in the DTM is the greatest challenge in the history of the Abt Sportsline company. For the first time, the enterprise developed a racing car itself. No reason to panic: the opponents are only Opel and Mercedes-Benz. An adventurous idea on Wednesday, December 15, 1999, when Hans-Jürgen Abt sat in his office, reached for the phone, and called the ITR chairman. Barely a month after his brother Christian received the STW championship title in court, the idea was conceived: if we want to pursue motorsport at the highest level, then we must go into the DTM.
2002
We know how to fight. This motto characterizes the Abt Sportsline team on the road to the championship. Through true teamwork, the team achieves the championship title – the rest is pure emotion and moments that no one will ever forget.
2004
After four years spent in the front row, in the 2004 season, Abt Sportsline became part of the large Audi team. The work began in the early nineties in the DTM, and the Kempten company developed 4 new Audis as a replacement team. Two further cars were taken over by the Joest team. New name, new colors—with the 2004 season, not only the team color changed, but the name and structure became new as well: Abt Sportsline became the Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, which deployed 4 Audi A4 DTMs out of the six cars on equal terms with the Joest team.
2007
A duel took place between Bruno Spengler and Mattias Ekström: After the final, “Eki” had a three-point lead over the Canadian driver—both had stood at the top once before. Mattias Ekström won the season opener in Hockenheim, but they always moved together at the front. His ABT Sportsline Audi Sport team won the team classification.
2009
Hattrick championship title: Timo Scheider repeated his victory from the previous year and became champion again. For ABT, this was the third DTM title in a row—and part of a successful year.
2009
Another title: The ADAC GT Masters is the ideal stage for Christian Abt. The former professional DTM driver drove perfectly with the Audi R8 car and secured a victory with 12 more points at the end of the season. This is a huge achievement from the 42-year-old former athlete.
2009
And the third victory: in 2009, Christian Abt reached the end of his active career, but for Daniel Abt, the career is just starting. Even before his 17th birthday, the son of ABT Sportsline managing director Hans-Jürgen Abt won the ADAC Formel Masters race. Thus, the sporty year of the Allgäu-based team became complete.
2010
Successful progress: Daniel Abt switched to the Deutsche Formel-3-Cup and proved his abilities. In the end, he finished second in the overall standings.
2010
There is only one team, ABT Sportsline: Even when it seemed they had lost the overall victory, the ABT youngsters proved themselves in the ADAC GT Masters race. Together with the team, they celebrated a significant team victory.
2011
Since 2006, a duel has taken place in the DTM race between Audi and Mercedes-Benz. ABT Sportsline closed this era with another victory: Mattias Ekström and Mike Rockenfeller brought the team championship title to Kempten. For 2012, the cards were reshuffled: BMW also entered the DTM, and every manufacturer built a new vehicle. Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider triumphed in the DTM race representing the ABT Sportsline Audi Sport Team with the Audi A5 car.