The Haupt Racing Team celebrated its first overall victory in the ADAC GT Masters with Salman Owega and Finn Wiebelhaus in the Ford Mustang GT3. Their teammates Max Reis and David Schumacher completed the one-two finish at the Nürburgring with second place. The front row was also occupied by HRT's Ford Mustang GT3s in both qualifying sessions of the weekend. In race one, the team was already able to cheer on victory in the Silver Cup and an overall podium finish. HRT CEO Ulrich Fritz sums up HRT's best team result of the season so far and looks ahead to the coming weeks.
Ulrich, congratulations on your first victory with the Ford Mustang GT3. How would you rate this debut success for HRT?
"First of all, we are all very happy that we were finally able to secure our first victory with the Ford Mustang GT3. And then there was the double victory with Max and David in second place. It's just incredible. But the result was somewhat on the cards. We've seen a real upward trend with the Mustang in recent weeks. First came the class victory and a very good fourth place overall at the 24h Nürburgring. We also performed well at the 24 Hours of Spa, but unfortunately we lacked that little bit of luck at the end to get a good result. In the DTM, Arjun Maini achieved his best result of the season so far at the Norisring. Now we have our first victory in the ADAC GT Masters, which is also the Ford Mustang GT3's maiden victory in Europe. A well-deserved success for the entire team and for Ford Performance."
So is HRT's success the result of teamwork?
"Everyone is working hard to get every tenth of a second out of the car. We understand the car a little better every day. Every race car has its own dynamics. Compared to previous years, we first have to work through the data for every race and every test—a task in which Ford Performance provides us with excellent support. Everyone in the team is highly motivated to push us further forward. The success in the ADAC GT Masters will certainly give us another boost to hopefully secure more victories."
On Saturday morning, there was a last-minute change to the driver lineup, with Niklas Kalus being replaced by David Schumacher. How did this happen?
"Niklas Kalus, who is the regular driver in the #3 car, was injured during the track walk on Friday evening and was unfortunately unable to continue the race weekend. This is obviously very unfortunate. Thankfully, David stepped in at short notice to support the team and his fellow driver Max Reis. He made the long journey and arrived at the Nürburgring at a short-term moment before the start of the first race. David had to get into the car cold, so to speak. After a few laps, he found his pace, and the result this weekend shows that he is an experienced and fast driver in the Ford Mustang GT3. We also wish Niklas a speedy recovery so that he can return to the cockpit soon."
What does the program look like for the next few weeks? Will you be able to relax a little during the summer break?
"No, the summer break will be very short. We have a lot of races coming up in the next few weeks, including the GT World Challenge Europe and the DTM, where we will be back at the Nürburgring in both series. We want to build on the momentum, of course. Everyone in the team has now seen that the Ford Mustang GT3 is capable of winning. The entire team and the drivers will do everything they can to achieve good results."
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.
