Fritz: “Interesting” Options for HRT to Expand Ford Relationship

Haupt Racing Team CEO Ulrich Fritz said he’d like to expand his squad’s relationship with Ford Racing by entering additional series in the future, including potentially moving into ACO competition.

HRT previously enjoyed a successful alliance with Mercedes-AMG, which included DTM and GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS titles, before entering a new partnership with Ford last year.

Fritz has been encouraged by how the first 18 months has developed, particularly with the increasing competitiveness of the Ford Mustang GT3 since the new EVO version came on stream this year.

HRT fields Mustangs in GTWC Europe, DTM and ADAC GT Masters, as well as contesting selected Intercontinental GT Challenge rounds.

It has achieved some notable milestones in those categories already this year, including taking GTWC Europe Endurance Cup pole at Monza and scoring the Mustang’s first podiums in DTM.

Fritz said he’s now keen to further strengthen the relationship with the Blue Oval and “hopefully” venture into new areas.

“It’s early times in our relationship with Ford, it’s just the second year,” he said when asked by Sportscar365 about plans for the future.

“Examples like we were able to do IGTC in Bathurst and whatever with the backing of Ford is just something we would like to continue.

“There’s also still other series out there that are interesting, talking about the whole ACO ecosystem that we have not done anything so far with the Ford brand. That’s definitely something which would be interesting for us in the future.”

An introduction to ACO-rules racing could potentially come in either the European or Asian Le Mans Series, the latter being a category HRT previously contested with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

However, Fritz cautioned about the need to be realistic and not try to expand into too many series at one time.

“In the end, our growth is somehow limited because you can only do so much but it’s also about every year trying to evaluate what’s best for the team, what’s best for the brand, for Ford, and for our relationship and then take it from there,” he added.

Fritz insisted “it’s still early times” in terms of the team getting to grips with the new EVO version of the Mustang as it is continually unlocking more performance as well as identifying new issues, including the drivetrain problem that dropped the No. 64 Ford out of podium contention in last month’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

“You also have to understand it gives you much more variables, especially in the suspension area, and it gives you a bit more downforce on the front but you need to re-balance everything and find out how it works best and this is different on different tracks,” Fritz explained of the EVO.

“For sure it doesn’t harm we’re doing so many events and we’re very much focused on the Pirelli tire so we learn a lot.

“We have raced for nearly 50 weekends with the Mustang so you learn and you progress from event to event and from track to track and that’s definitely helping a lot because you get more confident.

“The EVO package for the car helps for sure but also on the setup-side we found a few tweaks and tricks and I think it’s easier to come to a track you already know, which is now mainly the case.

“A massive program also comes with a massive chance to learn a lot.”