Two top-eight finishes, that's the result of the Mercedes-AMG Team HRT at the fourth race weekend of the DTM 2022. The weekend at the Norisring was marked by defects, crashes and retirements, which also affected Mercedes-AMG Team HRT.
Saturday started for Luca Stolz (GER) with a gearbox change, which forced the 26-year-old from Brachbach to miss qualifying and start the race from the end of the grid. His team-mate Arjun Maini (IND) had a superb start with the blue and white PAUL sister car #36 – but was taken out of the race by a rival in the first corner,
Stolz was able to work his way up to seventh place and also benefited from numerous crashes of other cars.
In Sunday's race Luca Stolz was able to make up numerous positions at the start and after the pit stop he established himself in the top 10. After 55 minutes and one lap he crossed the finish line in 8th position. Arjun Maini was again unlucky at the start and found himself - coming from 11th position on the grid - only in 16th position. As the race progressed, he was able to improve his position, but was unable to finish higher than 14th.
Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG GT3 #4: "Overall a difficult weekend for us. After missing qualifying on Saturday, I was still able to score points as many cars dropped out. On Sunday, things went better from the start - but we just weren't fast enough for finishing on the podium."
Arjun Maini, Mercedes-AMG GT3 #36: "Misfortune, bad luck and breakdowns - that's how I can sum it up. After the retirement on Saturday, which was not our fault, things didn't go well for us on Sunday either. We just have to leave this weekend behind us."
Ulrich Fritz, Chief Executive Officer Haupt Racing Team GmbH: "We leave the Norisring with mixed feelings. We fought with blunt weapons, especially due to the current BoP of the car, and tried to make the best of it. With Luca, we at least scored points. But we are actually not satisfied."
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.