The grand finale of the Nürburgring Endurance Series will take place on the legendary Nordschleife in mid-November. At the sixth round of the NLS, the Haupt Racing Team will enter the race with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 sporting a very special livery to bid farewell to its partners BILSTEIN, MANNOL and Merbag and to thank them for the successful cooperation.
- Final weekend for Team ADVAN x HRT in the Nürburgring Endurance Series
- Special livery for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 to mark the farewell of partners BILSTEIN, MANNOL and Merbag
The 2024 season finale of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) is scheduled for November 16 for the Haupt Racing Team. At the 56th ADAC Barbarossapreis, the outfit from Drees will take on the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife for the last time this year with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 under the Team ADVAN x HRT entry.
The car will be driven by familiar faces in a new line-up: Dennis Fetzer (GER), Salman Owega (GER) and Finn Wiebelhaus (GER). While Owega and Fetzer both have plenty of experience on the Nordschleife and podium finishes to their name, Wiebelhaus is having his GT3 debut in the 'Green Hell'. The ADAC GT Masters driver took part in the FIA Motorsport Games in Valencia at the end of October together with Hubert Haupt and won gold for Team Germany and silver in the GT Sprint.
There has also been plenty to celebrate in the NLS so far this season - most notably first place in the fourth round of the NLS. In the ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen, David Schumacher, Salman Owega and Hubert Haupt secured the first victory for Mercedes-AMG in the NLS since 2020. Two further third places for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 rounded off the good performance. And there is still something to fight for in the standings at the season finale: Team ADVAN X HRT is currently in fourth place in the NLS Speed Trophy and could still be crowned runner-up with a perfect weekend.
For the last race weekend, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 will have a very special livery: as a big thank-you to the three partners BILSTEIN, MANNOL and Merbag, it will shine in a combination of yellow-blue as well as black and white - the classic colors of the team's three partners.
BILSTEIN and Merbag in particular had been involved with the Haupt Racing Team in the Nordschleife events. Since 2020, HRT relied on the proven chassis from technology partner BILSTEIN from Ennepetal on the Nordschleife. Merbag, the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in Switzerland and leading representative of the Stuttgart-based brand in Europe, has been the team's mobility partner since 2022. The globally operating company MANNOL, based in Wedel in northern Germany, with its engine oils and additives, had been the official lubricant partner of the Haupt Racing Team since 2022.
The final race weekend of the Nürburgring Endurance Series starts on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 08:30 am with qualifying before the lights go out for the 4-hour race at 12:00 pm.
Ulrich Fritz, Chief Executive Officer Haupt Racing Team: "We arrive to the last race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series with one eye laughing and one eye crying. It has been a season with highlights for us, but also difficult moments. I am very pleased that we have another opportunity to thank BILSTEIN, MANNOL and Merbag for an at all times good and successful cooperation in the form of the special livery of our Mercedes-AMG GT3. A new chapter begins for us after this weekend, but first we want to end the current one on a high.”
Salman Owega: "It's always something special for me to drive on the Nordschleife. We've already won in the NLS this year and maybe we can achieve another good result in the finale. Our Mercedes-AMG GT3 should be very well prepared in all conditions. The weather in mid-November will certainly be exciting, but we can't change it anyway, so we'll just make the best out of it.”
Finn Wiebelhaus: “I can hardly wait for my debut in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the Nordschleife! This track is so unique and I'm really looking forward to the feeling of driving it in a GT3 car. I really hope that the November conditions will be kind to me on my first outing and that we will have a clean race free from issues. In any case, I will do my best to give the team a successful end to the season on the Nordschleife.”
Dennis Fetzer: “I'm really looking forward to the final next weekend! Hopefully the weather will allow us to have a good race. At the moment, the forecast is a bit challenging with temperatures below five degrees and clouds, but we'll have to see what happens in the end. On the Nordschleife it can change by the second anyway. We were able to practice a lot in the wet and fog at the last race and I am convinced that we can do even better this time.”
