In the second round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), HAUPT RACING TEAM has secured the maiden win in its still brief team history. The #16 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Luca Stolz, Manuel Metzger, Adam Christodoulou and Maro Engel as its drivers beat the entire opposition in the field of 155 participants and thus secured the maiden race win for HRT in the 60th ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen.
- First-ever race win for the newly-founded HRT team
- Mercedes-AMG Team HRT (#16): 1st place
- Mercedes-AMG Team HRT (#17): 11th place
- Mercedes-AMG Team HRT AutoArenA (#6): 15th place
In qualifying, Maro Engel, the pole sitter of the NLS season opener, put in yet another strong performance and drove the #16 car, running in the orange-and-black AM Solutions livery, to a time of 8m00.400s, the third-fastest lap time. Only less than half a second further down, Yelmer Buurman put the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 17 fourth on the grid, a promising situation for the race in the afternoon. The Mercedes-AMG Team HRT AutoArenA with starting number #6, meanwhile, started the 60th ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen at the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife from 15th place. The start of the four-hour race was excellent: with the #16 car, Luca Stolz immediately overtook the two leading opponents in the first corners and then held on to first place. Like that, the 24-year-old laid the foundation for the race success of the #16 car. He gradually extended his margin and handed over the #16 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to Manuel Metzger while leading the race at the end of his stint.
With Metzger having taken over, the #16 car maintained its position in the front-running group. Thanks to a successful pit stop, Adam Christodoulou, who followed after Metzger, found himself in first place with 16 laps completed. The Briton then continuously extended the margin and established a dominant lead. Out in front, final driver Maro Engel then safely brought it home and was first across the finish line – just like in the first NLS round, in which a post-race time penalty then saw the team relegated to second place. It is the first-ever win for HRT and the maiden victory of the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the same time. The #17 car, meanwhile, finished in eleventh place. 15th place for the #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 rounded out the results.
Tomorrow, on Sunday, HAUPT RACING TEAM will already be taking on the third round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series. The 52nd ADAC Barbarossapreis will again have three Mercedes-AMG GT3s with extended works support on the grid. The only change: instead of Gabriele Piana, Nico Bastian will be behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 17 this time.
Hubert Haupt, team owner, HRT: “Great! Admittedly, as a driver, I only ended up eleventh in the race together with my colleagues, but, of course, watching your own team scoring its first major race win is a dream for any team owner. That is a strong signal for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring!”
Sean Paul Breslin, team principal, HRT: “We have done everything to win today and we have succeeded in doing so in an impressive way. Having already scored a podium finish in the first race, today, victory follows in the second race. Huge compliments to our drivers and the entire team! We are all super happy.”
Maro Engel, driver, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #16: “It was mega fun. The car was running perfectly like it had already in NLS 1. Scoring the first-ever victory here today definitely is something special. Out on track, it was mega fun again. The guys had laid the foundation, in particular Luca with his start. We are all super happy that it has worked out.”
Luca Stolz, driver, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #16:“During the formation lap, I got the tyres exactly to the working temperature and simply had ideal traction at the start as a result. Then, it worked very well in the first corner right away. That was the first step towards victory today. Then, my colleagues did a great job in bringing victory home.”
About HRT
HRT stands for HAUPT RACING TEAM. In its debut season 2020, the team will be competing with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Nürburgring Endurance Series and in the GT World Challenge Europe. Preparation of the activities and the cars is located in Meuspath near the Nürburgring. Haupt Racing Team GmbH has its headquarters in Grünwald near Munich. Owner of the team is racing driver and entrepreneur Hubert Haupt. Next to motorsport, Haupt is particularly known as a successful real estate developer. With his real estate holding, he is turning residential and commercial concepts in the south of Germany into reality, from innovative buildings to entire districts.
