ADAC GT Masters frontrunner Callaway Competition has signed Markus Pommer to co-drive its Corvette C7 GT3-R with Marvin Kirchhoefer in this year’s championship.

Pommer joins last year’s third-placed team from HTP Motorsport, with which he finished fourth in the standings sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Maximilian Goetz.

The 28-year-old is now set for his fourth consecutive season with a different team after competing for Audi squads Phoenix Racing and Aust Motorsport in 2016 and 2017, before switching to HTP last year.

Kirchhoefer, who himself drove a HTP Mercedes two years ago, partnered Daniel Keilwitz for the most recent GT Masters campaign in which the Callaway pairing scored three victories – more than any other crew.

The pair entered the final weekend as one of four title contenders but missed out on the championship to Mathieu Jaminet and Robert Renauer.

It became clear Kirchhoefer would have a new co-driver this year when Keilwitz was confirmed in the new PROSport Aston Martin entry, leaving a space in the Corvette C7 GT3-R lineup ahead of the car’s fourth season in GT Masters competition.

“The team is well prepared for the upcoming season, and in Markus Pommer we’ve managed to sign the ideal candidate,” said team manager Mike Gramke.

“I’m very confident that the drivers will get used to each other very soon and that we will be on the attack from the very first race at Oschersleben [in April].

“Last year, we were in contention for the title up until the last race, so our target in the coming season is to provide further confirmation of our merits.

“If the entire team works hard from the first to the last race – which I’m absolutely convinced they will – then we should have an even better outcome to the season than last time round.”