For the Haupt Racing Team, the winter break will be a thing of the past next weekend. The GT Winter Series races at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal will mark the start of preparations for the 2024 motorsport season. Young talent Finn Wiebelhaus (GER) will be introduced to GT3 racing at the Portimão circuit in the Drees-based team's Mercedes-AMG GT3. Kwanda Mokoena (RSA) will join the team as a further driver during preparations.
In the 2023 season, the Haupt Racing Team celebrated a total of three championship successes with its young drivers in both the ADAC GT Masters and the Fanatec GT World Challenge. HRT will remain true to its promising concept of promoting young talent this year. In ADAC protégé Finn Wiebelhaus, the team has signed another promising talent for 2024. The 17-year-old German will be competing in a GT3 racing car for the first time in the GT Winter Series. After a successful career in karting, he competed in the French Formula 4 Championship last season as part of the ADAC Junior Team. He immediately finished in the points in the demanding junior series. Wiebelhaus is now taking on the challenge of GT3 racing and, after the GT Winter Series, will compete in the ADAC GT Masters and in selected endurance races on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife for the Haupt Racing Team.
As Wiebelhaus, Kwanda Mokoena will be in action for HRT. The young South African won the endurance classification of the South African GT Championship in 2022 and achieved several Top 10 results in the ADAC GT Masters last year. In 2024, Kwanda Mokoena will line up for the entire ADAC GT Masters season with the Haupt Racing Team and has set himself the goal of continuing his development and building on his performances from last season. In addition, he will also contest selected races in the GT Winter Series in preparation for the new season.
As well as its involvement with two Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the DTM, the Haupt Racing Team is once again relying on the ADAC GT Masters as part of the ADAC racing events to prepare young talent for higher tasks in GT3 racing. With its Pro-Am concept, the ADAC GT Masters offers the ideal platform for this.
The established GT series will feature a new structure in the 2024 season that will make it even more attractive for young drivers. On the 'Road to DTM', the ADAC will provide targeted support for talented youngsters in the ADAC GT4 Germany and the ADAC GT Masters on their way to the top class of GT3 racing. The best youngster in this year's ADAC GT Masters will receive funding from the ADAC for promotion to the DTM in 2025. HRT is sending two young hopefuls into the race at the same time.
The Haupt Racing Team is also planning to enter other internationally renowned racing series such as the Fanatec GT World Challenge. The full program for 2024 and the other team colleagues of Finn and Kwanda will be announced later.
Finn Wiebelhaus, Haupt Racing Team: "The switch to GT racing is a fantastic opportunity for me to get one step closer to my dream of a professional career in motorsport. I will be driving the same car as in the DTM and it makes me very proud to be taking my first steps in GT3 with HRT. The team has a huge amount of experience and the successes speak for themselves. Everyone is working at the highest level, which gives me a lot of confidence for the challenge ahead. It will be a great advantage in my development and will give me the opportunity to get used to the new environment quickly."
Kwanda Mokoena, Haupt Racing Team: "I am very happy to be back in the ADAC GT Masters with HRT. In my first season, I already felt very comfortable in this demanding racing series. Now to be competing with the reigning championship-winning team gives me additional motivation. I hope to continue my development together with the team and to be able to convert what I have learned into appropriate results."
Ulrich Fritz, Chief Executive Officer Haupt Racing Team: "After the successes with our young talents last year, we would like to stick to our philosophy of promoting young talent. With its new concept, the ADAC GT Masters offers the best conditions for young drivers to prove themselves in a professional environment and draw attention to themselves. We are very much looking forward to working with Finn and Kwanda. It will be our task this season to help them develop their potential in GT3 racing."
About HRT
HRT stands for HAUPT RACING TEAM. The motorsport team was founded in July 2020 by racing driver and entrepreneur Hubert Haupt and has firmly established itself in international GT3 sport within a very short time. As well as numerous race wins and top results, HRT’s greatest success came in 2021 when it won the Drivers’ Championship in the DTM. In 2023, the team celebrated its most successful season to date, competing in the DTM, the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the GT World Challenge Europe and the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps, among others. Many of these race outings are as a Mercedes-AMG Performance Team with extended factory support. HRT is also involved in professional sim racing and is a sought-after partner for technical development projects and motorsport events of all kinds. As of the 2023 season, the team’s new operations centre is the HRT Race Base in Drees, which is located at the Nürburgring. The headquarters of Haupt Racing Team GmbH are in Grünwald near Munich.
