Ulrich, first of all, congratulations on your first podium finish and your first pole position with the Ford Mustang GT3 in the DTM. I’d say that’s a good race weekend, wouldn’t you?
“Thank you very much. Yes, I think we can look back on a very positive weekend. The first DTM podium for the Ford Mustang GT3 is an important milestone for our entire team and also for Ford Racing. With his performance, Finn has impressively demonstrated the potential that lies both in him and in the car. At the same time, Arjun has also underscored—with his pole position and fourth-place finish—that we’re now consistently capable of competing for the top spots. We also delivered a strong showing in the ADAC GT Masters with two podium finishes.
I’m particularly pleased that we were competitive throughout the entire weekend and didn’t just deliver strong results in individual sessions. This shows that we’ve taken the right steps as a team over the past few months. At the same time, however, we also know that the DTM is extremely competitive and that we can’t rest on our laurels after a result like this. It’s a nice reward for our hard work, but it’s also an motivation to continue on this path with determination.”
Over the past few weeks and months, we’ve seen an increase in performance from the Ford Mustang GT3s fielded by HRT. Is this improvement a result of the new Evo package, or are other factors at play?
“The Evo package certainly plays a part and brings improvements that help us fine-tune the car even better to different track characteristics. However, it would be too simplistic to attribute this development solely to that. We’ve been working very intensively over the past few months—together with Ford Racing, our engineers, and the drivers. We understand the car much better today than we did at the start of the season and can exploit its existing potential much more consistently.
The team’s processes have also become more refined. In motorsports, it’s ultimately always the total package that makes the difference. It is precisely this overall package that is evolving step by step, and this is now also reflected in the results. The Lausitzring was a good example of this. We were able to deliver strong performance throughout the entire weekend and saw that we’re moving in the right direction. Nevertheless, we’re still in a learning process and are working on exploiting the potential of the Ford Mustang GT3 even more consistently.”
The next major event, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, is already coming up this weekend, followed by the DTM season highlight at the Norisring. What are the goals for these races?
“The CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa is one of the absolute highlights of international GT racing. The past few weeks have shown that we’re making steady progress in endurance racing as well. Both our recent performance at Monza in the GT World Challenge Europe and our showing at the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring have made it clear that we’re now competitive at the highest level with the Ford Mustang GT3. Unfortunately, at both events we lacked that little bit of racing luck you always need in races like these. But things are developing in the right direction, and of course we want to build on that at Spa.
In a 24-hour race, reliability, a perfect team effort, and a flawless strategy are just as crucial as pure speed. The field at Spa is traditionally extremely strong, and the level of competition is incredibly high. Our goal is therefore to consistently run at the front over the entire distance, avoid mistakes, and put ourselves in a position where we can fight for a top result at the end.
In the DTM, we want to carry the momentum from the Lausitzring with us to the Norisring. At the same time, we know how close the field is in the DTM and that every detail can be decisive. Our goal is to continue our positive progress, once again compete for top positions, and score important points for the championship. If we can maintain the form we’ve shown in recent weeks, then we have a good chance of playing a key role at the Norisring as well.”
