HRT Names Driving Crews for Second Endurance Cup Season

Haupt Racing Team has revealed the entries and driver lineups for its second season in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup.

The Nürburgring-based squad will field a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos in the five-round series which includes the Total 24 Hours of Spa as the centerpiece.

Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Vincent Abril will continue as a trio in HRT’s Pro-class Mercedes-AMG which again wears the No. 4 label.

Last year the set of Mercedes-AMG factory drivers finished seventh at Spa on their way to achieving the same result in the Endurance Cup drivers’ standings.

Engel and Stolz also raced in Sprint Cup, but HRT is unlikely to be back in the short-form championship in 2021 owing to its commitment to the revamped DTM series.

HRT’s Silver Cup Mercedes-AMG will be driven by Patrick Assenheimer, Ricardo Sanchez and team owner Hubert Haupt.

Assenheimer drove for Madpanda Motorsport in Endurance Cup last season and contributed to the Spanish team’s GTWC Europe overall teams’ title in the Silver category.

Sanchez also suited up for Madpanda at the 24 Hours of Spa. The Mexican GT Academy graduate additionally made an FIA World Endurance Championship GTE-Am appearance at the Belgian circuit in 2020.

HRT’s Silver Cup entry won at Spa last year, with Haupt sharing the wheel with Sergey Afanasyev, Michele Bereta and Gabriele Piana.

“The GT World Challenge Endurance Cup is Europe’s toughest endurance series for GT3 cars,” said HRT team principal Sean Paul Breslin.

“Here, we are up against the best teams, drivers and manufacturers on the continent.

“We caught the eye last year as a newcomer in this high-class environment. We are now looking to back that up in the 2021 season. Our goal is to challenge for the title in both the Silver Cup and the overall competition.”