Next weekend, the Haupt Racing Team will be in action in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring with a line-up of six Mercedes-AMG GT3s. In the ADAC GT Masters, Dennis Fetzer will make his debut in the racing series with a guest start.
- HRT with a total of six cars on the grid in Austria
- #79 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with guest start in the ADAC GT Masters
- Closing spurt of the season in the DTM and ADAC GT Masters
As part of the penultimate DTM weekend on the Grand Prix circuit in Styria, HRT will be represented in the ADAC GT Masters with four Mercedes-AMG GT3s. Dennis Fetzer (GER) will make his debut in the tradition-steeped racing series in car number 79. The newcomer will be supported this weekend by team founder Hubert Haupt (GER).
The 23-year-old from Gießen has been driving for HRT since this season and contests the races on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife for the team. This year, he took a total of four class victories in HRT's Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and the 24h Qualifiers. Despite his wealth of experience in GT racing, Fetzer will be battling for points and positions for the first time in the world's oldest GT3 series. The #79 duo will start in the Pro-Am category, in which a driver with the FIA Bronze classification is mandatory. Due to the regulations, this class has a shorter minimum pit stop time in order to increase the chances of the participants achieving a good position in the overall standings. In the two races, each lasting one hour, the drivers take turns at the wheel of their race car. Each driver will contest one of the two qualifying sessions and then take up the ADAC GT Masters race as the starting driver.
The penultimate race weekend in the ADAC GT Masters promises to be exciting. Haupt Racing Team are 29 points in front in the team standings ahead of this weekend and would like to extend their lead ahead of the season finale at the Hockenheimring. In the drivers' standings, HRT with Salman Owega and David Schumacher (both GER) in the #2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in third place also has a good chance of getting involved in the championship fight. In the sister car #3, Jannes Fittje and Finn Wiebelhaus (both GER) are also still in touching distance of the leaders in fourth place. Kwanda Mokoena (RSA) and Max Reis (GER) are currently in tenth position with 51 points. The young driver duo would like to bring their debut season in the ADAC GT Masters to a successful conclusion with good results in the final races of the season.
The DTM also enters the crucial phase of the championship at the Red Bull Ring. Mercedes-AMG Team HRT, with drivers Luca Stolz (GER) and Arjun Maini (IND), has set itself the goal of building on its consistent performances in the remaining four races of the season so far. Stolz recently celebrated the team's first win of the season at the Sachsenring.
The ADAC GT Masters races at the Red Bull Ring start at 15:15 local time on Saturday, September 28th and the following Sunday (September 29th) and can be watched live on Sport1 TV. The DTM will broadcast its races on Saturday and Sunday at 13:30 on TV partner ProSieben. Both racing series will also be available as live streams on the official YouTube channels of the championships.
Dennis Fetzer, #79 Mercedes-AMG GT3: “I'm really looking forward to the weekend at the Red Bull Ring. Being able to compete in the ADAC GT Masters is something very special for me. I already know my team-mate from the races at the Nürburgring, so the changeover will not be difficult in that respect. However, the formats are fundamentally different. In the sprint races, you push from the first to the last lap and tactics play a subordinate role compared to the endurance races. But I am confident that we will be competitive with our package.”
Ulrich Fritz, Chief Executive Officer of Haupt Racing Team: “With Dennis and Hubert making a guest appearance in the Pro-AM class, we are looking forward to another highlight this weekend. Although both are newcomers to the ADAC GT Masters, with their experience and speed I hope that they will be able to fight for good positions. Regardless of that, we have an exciting weekend ahead of us at the Red Bull Ring - the championships in both the ADAC GT Masters and the DTM are entering the final phase and we prepared well for that with a day of testing last week.”
