Tom Kalender
German racing driver (born 2008)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tom Kalender (born 27 March 2008 in Hamm[1]) is a German racing driver currently competing in DTM for Landgraf Motorsport. He is the youngest champion in ADAC GT Masters history at sixteen years, six months and 23 days old.[2]
| Tom Kalender | |
|---|---|
Kalender in 2025 | |
| Nationality |  German |
| Born | 27 March 2008 Hamm, Germany |
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
| Championship titles | |
| 2024 | ADAC GT Masters |
Early career
Formula 4
At the start of 2023, Kalender was named as one of three drivers in ADAC's Formula Junior Team.[3][4] A few months later, it was announced that Kalender would race in the 2023 French F4 Championship.[5] In the first round of the season at Nogaro he finished 12th on debut, feeling "a little disappointed" as he missed out on reverse-grid pole for race two. In race two he gained one position to finish 11th, but his promising form ended in race three where he retired following a collision.[6] Following a difficult weekend at Magny-Cours where he was only able to finish 13th in race three,[7] Kalender scored his first points of the season at Pau by finishing seventh and eighth in the final two races of the weekend.[8] The following round at Spa-Francorchamps proved to be Kalender's best weekend of the season, as he finished fifth and seventh in races one and three, respectively.[9]
At Misano, Kalender finished 16th in race one with a broken front wing, and after a retirement in race two, finished 12th in race three.[10] In the penultimate round of the season at Lédenon, started on a promising note, with Kalender running as high as eighth and finishing tenth in race one. After missing out on points in race two, owing to a setup change going "the wrong direction", Kalender ran as high as seventh in race three but was forced into retirement after contact with Jason Leung on the penultimate lap.[11] After a difficult final round of the season at Paul Ricard, Kalender made a one-off appearance in the Italian F4 Championship in the final round of the season at Vallelunga.[12][13]
GT racing
2024
Kalender retained ADAC support for 2024 but switched to ADAC GT Masters, partnering Elias Seppänen at Landgraf Motorsport.[14][15] Finishing runner-up on his series debut at Oschersleben, Kalender then missed out on race two pole by 0.031 seconds but rebounded to take his first win of the season.[16] In the following round at Zandvoort, Kalender extended his points lead by winning race one from pole position.[17] Missing out on race one pole by 0.076 seconds at the Nürburgring, Kalender initially fell to seventh, but as Elias Seppänen got in the car, he was able to gain five positions and finish second. In race two, Kalender was fighting for the podium but a late-race collision sent him back to sixth.[18] In the following round at Spa-Francorchamps, Kalender won from pole position in race one, and initially won race two, but were classified sixth after being given a penalty.[19] At the Red Bull Ring, Kalender finished third in race one after having started 11th, while in race two he was able to maintain the lead of the race until the end to take his fourth win of the season.[20]
In the final round of the season at the Hockenheimring, Kalender finished third in race one to win the ADAC GT Masters title with a race to spare.[21] In the season finale, Kalender overtook Alexander Schwarzer at the hairpin following a safety car restart, to take his fifth win of the season.[22] Kalender also made one-off appearances for Madpanda Motorsport in both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.[23][24]
2025
On February 12, it was announced that Kalender would step up to DTM with Landgraf Motorsport, alongside Lucas Auer,[25] in his first year as a Mercedes-AMG junior driver.[26] In his rookie year in DTM, Kalender scored his first points in race two at the Lausitzring by finishing 15th,[27] before scoring points in all but six races to end the year 21st in points with a best result of fifth at the Hockenheimring.[28] During 2025, Kalender also made one-off appearances in the ST-X class of the Super Taikyu Series for Craft-Bamboo Racing,[29] and the Silver Cup of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for GetSpeed.[30] At the end of the year, Kalender finished second in the Indianapolis 8 Hour for Mercedes-AMG Team GMR.[31]
2026
Kalender was retained as a Mercedes-AMG junior driver for 2026.[32]
Karting record
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf – Bambini Light | 2nd | |
| 2017 | ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf – Bambini Light | DS Kartsport | 2nd |
| 2018 | ADAC Kart Bundesendlauf – Bambini | DS Kartsport | 2nd |
| ADAC Kart Masters – Bambini | 3rd | ||
| IAME International Final – X30 Mini | KR Sport | 7th | |
| 2019 | ADAC Kart Masters – Bambini | 1st | |
| ADAC Kart Cup – Bambini | DS Kartsport | 2nd | |
| Westdeutscher ADAC Kart Cup – Bambini | 1st | ||
| IAME Series Benelux – X30 Mini | 24th | ||
| IAME International Final – X30 Mini | NC | ||
| 2020 | ADAC Kart Masters – OKJ | DS Kartsport / ADAC Mittelrhein e.V. | 4th |
| 2021 | WSK Champions Cup – OKJ | TB Racing Team | 71st |
| Champions of the Future – OKJ | 76th | ||
| ADAC Kart Masters – OKJ | 4th | ||
| German Kart Championship – OKJ | 5th | ||
| European Karting Championship – OKJ | NC | ||
| Trofeo delle Industrie – OKJ | 5th | ||
| 26° South Garda Winter Cup – OKJ | 12th | ||
| 2022 | WSK Super Master Series – OKJ | TB Racing Team | 31st |
| German Kart Championship – OKJ | 2nd | ||
| WSK Euro Series – OKJ | 91st | ||
| Karting World Championship – OKJ | 43rd | ||
| Sources:[33][34] | |||
Racing record
Racing career summary
‡ Team standings
Complete French F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete ADAC GT Masters results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GT World Challenge Europe results
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)