The Haupt Racing Team and Ford Performance will be competing in another prestigious racing series in 2025 as part of their new partnership. In the ADAC GT Masters, the team from Drees is continuing its successful promotion of young talent this year with the Ford Mustang GT3 under the name HRT Ford Performance. A line-up of three cars will contest the six race weekends of the season for the reigning team champion.
- Ford Mustang GT3 debuts in the ADAC GT Masters
- #2 Dennis Fetzer (GER) / Jonathan Cecotto (VEN)
- #3 Max Reis (GER) / Niklas Kalus (GER)
- #64 Finn Wiebelhaus (GER) / Salman Owega (GER)
The 2025 ADAC GT Masters opening event has another premiere in store for the Haupt Racing Team next month. When the new season kicks off at the Lausitzring from May 23rd to 25th, the sound of the Ford Mustang GT3 will be heard for the first time in the tradition-steeped GT3 series. HRT Ford Performance will field three of the new cars, with which a line-up of six talented young drivers will take on the “Road to DTM”. In the special classification, all Silver drivers under the age of 25 compete for financial support with a view to possible promotion to the top level of GT3 racing.
In its third season in the ADAC GT Masters, the team is thus continuing its successful support program which, in addition to the ADAC GT3 series, also includes the new cooperation with the SIM-ON karting team. With Dennis Fetzer, Finn Wiebelhaus, Salman Owega and Max Reis, the line-up includes four drivers who already competed for the Haupt Racing Team in the ADAC GT Masters last season. Jonathan Cecotto and Niklas Kalus are making their debut in the racing series.
Dennis Fetzer made his debut in the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring in 2024 as a guest entrant with the Haupt Racing Team and immediately celebrated two victories in the Pro-AM classification. This year, the 23-year-old will contest the entire season in the team's Ford Mustang GT3 and will also compete in the Nürburgring Endurance Series. He shares the cockpit of the #2 car with Jonathan Cecotto. The 25-year-old son of racing legend Johnny Cecotto has been active in GT racing since 2016 and has recently been concentrating on entries in one-make cups. A new challenge awaits him in the ADAC GT Masters.
Salman Owega and Finn Wiebelhaus form the driver pairing in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3. Both are entering their second year in the colors of the Haupt Racing Team. Owega can look back on a successful career in the ADAC GT Masters as the drivers' champion of the 2023 season and third-placed last year. The 19-year-old has already celebrated seven victories in the championship. Wiebelhaus made his GT3 debut in 2024 and impressed straight away. The 18-year-old won at the Red Bull Ring and also achieved a gold and a silver medal with the Haupt Racing Team at the 2025 FIA Motorsport Games in Valencia.
Max Reis and Niklas Kalus form another powerful youngster duo in the number 3 car. Reis took the plunge into GT racing in 2024 and impressed with a podium on his ADAC GT Masters debut at Oschersleben. The 18-year-old followed this up with a sensational pole position at the Red Bull Ring. Kalus is the second rookie in the squad alongside Cecotto. The 19-year-old switched from karting to motor racing in 2023. After strong performances in one-make cups, the GT3 debutant is opening the next chapter in his career by competing in the Ford Mustang GT3 from HRT Ford Performance.
The ADAC GT Masters will again stage four of the six race weekends in 2025 as part of the DTM. These include the races at the Lausitzring, Zandvoort, the Red Bull Ring and the Hockenheimring. In addition, the racing series will make a guest appearance at the Nürburgring as part of the International ADAC Truck Grand Prix and will make a second guest appearance in Austria for the first time at the historic Salzburgring. Three race weekends will be held in endurance format with a race distance of 80 minutes and three in sprint format with a race length of 60 minutes.
Ulrich Fritz, Chief Executive Officer Haupt Racing Team: "We are delighted to be able to enter three cars in the ADAC GT Masters again. This reinforces our concept of promoting young talent. Four of the six drivers were already on the grid with us last year and have shown a steep learning curve. The goal now must be to continue this development and to integrate the debutants well. It will definitely be an exciting season."
About HRT
The Haupt Racing Team (HRT) was founded in 2020 by racing driver and entrepreneur Hubert Haupt and has firmly established itself in international GT3 sport. Its greatest successes to date include the 2021 DTM Drivers' Championship, the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Drivers' and Teams' Titles (Sprint and Silver Cup) and the 2023 and 2024 ADAC GT Masters Teams' Titles, as well as class wins and podium finishes in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps. From the 2025 season, HRT will run the Ford Mustang GT3 with factory support from Ford Performance in several high-profile racing series and championships. HRT is also actively involved in the promotion of young talent, covering the entire pyramid of driver development from entry into motorsport in the HRT Kart Team to the highest level of GT racing in the DTM. The joint operations center is the state-of-the-art HRT RACE BASE in Drees at the Nürburgring, where technical development projects and motorsport events of all kinds are also carried out.
