Mercedes-AMG Team HRT claimed a podium and another top-five result at the second race weekend of the 2022 DTM season. Both Luca Stolz (GER) and Arjun Maini (IND) fared well at the Lausitzring, particularly in the Saturday race: starting from P4, Stolz climbed into second place in the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the blue and yellow livery of team partner Bilstein. In doing so, the 26-year-old repeated his podium success from Portimão. Team-mate Maini also produced a flawless performance in the #36 blue and white PAUL car. The 24-year-old finished fourth, narrowly missing out on his first podium for HRT. In the Sunday race, both Stolz – carrying extra weight in his car, as a result of the previous day’s success – and Maini lost places during an eventful start. Finding themselves in the middle of the pack, Stolz was able to battle his way back to twelfth, while Maini ended the race in 13th place.
Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG GT3 #4: “Super Saturday, followed by a sobering Sunday. Yesterday, I was super happy with the podium. The guys in the pits did a great job. I made a good start and climbed to P3. Our undercut worked well and we finished on P2. That makes today all the more difficult to take.”
Arjun Maini, Mercedes-AMG GT3 #36: “It was a mixed weekend for me. P6 in qualifying and P4 in the race on Saturday. We had good pace and a good pit stop. There was then a turbulent qualifying on Sunday, which meant I ended up starting from down in P14. In the end, I came home 13th – not ideal, but I feel positive looking ahead to Imola.”
Ulrich Fritz, Managing Director of Haupt Racing Team: “That was a mixed weekend. Saturday was positive. P2 for Luca and P4 for Arjun. We felt good going into Sunday. However, our qualifying was promptly affected by the red flag. P8 and P14. Luca did not make a good start in the race, while Arjun came off the track. As such, we found ourselves in poor positions from the first lap. We brought both cars in for an early pit stop and tried to make up some places. However, that only worked to a certain degree. We now have a little time to analyse what went wrong. We are looking forward to Imola.”
About HRT
HRT stands for HAUPT RACING TEAM. Formed in July 2020 by racing driver and entrepreneur Hubert Haupt, the team enjoys success in GT3 racing. Among other things, HRT secured the 2021 DTM drivers' championship in just its second motorsport season. HRT lines up with extended works support from Mercedes-AMG in many of the team's outings. The outings and cars are prepared in Meuspath, not far from the Nürburgring. HRT is also involved in professional sim racing and is a sought-after partner for motorsport events of all sorts. HRT can call on a host of experts with a wealth of motorsport and engineering experience, which the diverse motorsport company leverages when implementing technical development projects for and with its partners. The headquarters of Haupt Racing Team GmbH is Grünwald near Munich. The team owner is racing driver and businessman Hubert Haupt. As well as motorsport, Haupt is primarily known as a successful property developer. With his real estate company, he implements high-quality living and building concepts in southern Germany – from innovative buildings to complete districts.
