Halfway point of the DTM season for Mercedes-AMG Team HRT. The fourth stop on this year's calendar takes the team from Drees to the legendary Norisring. Mercedes-AMG Performance drivers Luca Stolz and Arjun Maini will be aiming for the next podium in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the traditional circuit in the streets of Nuremberg.
- Best start to the season for HRT and its drivers in the DTM
- HRT best-placed Mercedes-AMG team before the halfway point of the season
- Norisring a successful venue for HRT in the DTM
The Norisring marks the fourth of eight events in the 2024 DTM season from July 5 to 7, and the races in the prestigious championship have been promising for HRT to date. At the season opener in Oschersleben, Luca Stolz drove the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the full Merbag design to third place at the first attempt. In Zandvoort, Arjun Maini followed this up with another podium in the sister car in MANNOL colors. With 112 points from three race weekends, the duo made HRT's best start to a DTM season to date. At this point in the 2021 championship year, the team had 84 points.
Consistency is the key to success this season. Both Stolz and Maini finished in the points in almost every one of the six races, scoring an average of 18.6 points per race for the team. Thanks to the reliability of the drivers and their cars, they finished third in the team standings. HRT is therefore the best-placed Mercedes-AMG team and also made a significant contribution to Mercedes-AMG leading the DTM manufacturers' standings ahead of the Norisring.
In fifth place in the drivers' standings, Maini is currently the best-placed of the four Mercedes-AMG GT3 drivers in the grid. In his fourth year in the DTM, the Indian is impressing with his pace and assertiveness. With 62 points, it is also the most successful start to a DTM season for him. Stolz also scored more points than in his previous two seasons in the DTM. However, he did not always have luck on his side. In Oschersleben, he missed out on the chance of victory due to a neutralization and at the Lausitzring he was unable to finish the second race due to an unforced incident. In Sunday's race at Zandvoort, he was blocked by a competitor during the pit stop, which prevented a possible podium. Nevertheless, he is only ten points behind Maini in tenth place in the overall standings.
The cards are being reshuffled in the DTM at the 2.162-kilometer Norisring. The street circuit has been a fixture on the calendar since 1984 and has always offered the potential for surprises. HRT's first appearance with the DTM in 2021 was already crowned with success. On the final weekend at the Norisring, Maximilian Götz won the drivers' title for the team with two race wins.
The DTM will show all sessions from the Norisring in the international livestream on the official YouTube channel of the racing series. In German-speaking countries, ProSieben and ServusTV will broadcast the DTM live on television. The races start on Saturday and Sunday at 13:30 CEST.
Ulrich Fritz, Chief Executive Officer Haupt Racing Team: "We are very satisfied with our team's performance so far this season. Competition is very close in the DTM this year and we've had some extremely challenging conditions on the three race weekends. Pace alone is not enough. It also depends on making the right strategic decisions on and off the track to get the maximum out of the car. We have almost always managed to do this so far and we can be proud of that. On the other hand, we still have a long season ahead of us and we must not let up. A weak weekend immediately sets you back and the Norisring is often a lottery. We have to keep our focus in order to achieve the best possible results here too."
Luca Stolz, #4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT: "We started very well in Oschersleben, but unfortunately we had some bad luck with the full-course yellow phase. Otherwise, we would probably have clinched our first victory. Luck wasn't necessarily on our side at the Lausitzring and Zandvoort either. But I'm looking forward to next weekend at the Norisring. It's always a very enjoyable event. If we continue to perform well in qualifying, we can hopefully score our first win of the season soon - perhaps as early as next weekend."
Arjun Maini, #36 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT: "It's been a great season so far with HRT. We have performed well in the DTM, on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife and most recently at the 24 Hours of Spa. At the moment, everything just fits together. I hope that we can continue to use the momentum and consistently achieve good results, especially in the DTM, and move even further forward in the championship. The Norisring is always a special event for me. I clinched my first DTM podium here. I hope I can repeat that next weekend."
