HTP Motorsport feels comfortable in both sprint and endurance racing

HTP Motorsport is the racing team founded in 2013 with the headquarters in the village of Altendiez in western Germany.

In a very short time, HTP Motorsport was established as one of the leading GT racing squads in Europe. Interestingly, the team was founded under the name Heico Motorsport by Dutchman Wim de Pundert and racing manager Norbert Bruckner. Dutch sponsors HTP Investments acquired Heico Group’s motorsport activities and moved into former premises of Persson Motorsport,  another former part of Heico Group structure whose DTM activities ceased at the end of 2012.

HTP Motorsport in ADAC GT Masters

Even though they didn’t have enough time to prepare for the first season under the new name, HTP Motorsport prepared two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3s sponsored by Polarweiss for 2013 ADAC GT Masters. It was a relatively good season for the new team, marked by a victory of Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Gotz at Nurburgring. HTP Motorsport finished the season sharing the 3rd place in the championship with Schubert, while two Maximilians were also 3rd in the Drivers’ championship.

HTP Motorsport’s Mercedes at Red Bull Ring, 2014 ADAC GT Masters

In 2014, HTP Motorsport again fielded two cars with no less than seven drivers being involved in a campaign that year. Buhk and Gotz again were the striking force and they scored two wins – at Oschersleben and Lausitzring – before finishing 5th in the overall standings. At the same time, HTP Motorsport dropped to the 5th place in the Teams’ Championship.

In 2015, HTP Motorsport switched from Mercedes to Bentley Continental GT3 cars. The team again fielded two cars and achieved one victory. Luca Stolz and Jeroen Bleekemolen won the second race at Oschersleben and Stolz was the leading driver that year as he finished 9th in standings. In the Teams’ Championship, HTP Motorsport finished 6th.

HTP Motorsport’s Mercedes SMG GT3 at Nurburgring

After missing the 2016 season, HTP Motorsport will return to ADAC GT Masters in 2017 with two Mercedes AMG GT3s.

Success in the FIA GT and Blancpain GT Series

In 2013, HTP Motorsport competed in both FIA GT and Blancpain Series. In the FIA GT Series, alongside with Gravity Harouz Racing from the Czech Republic, HTP scored wins at Zandvoort and Slovakiaring before winning the titles in the Pro-Am and Gentlemen’s Trophy, while in Pro Cup HTP Motorsport finished 4th.

The same year in the Blancpain GT Endurance Series, HTP Motorsport won 2 out 5 races, including 24 Hours of Spa, running the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. Maximilian Buhk also won Drivers’ championship, with the help of Maximilian Gotz and Bernd Schneider.

Gotz, Schneider, and Buhk after triumph at Spa 24h

Buhk and Gotz narrowly missed the overall Blancpain GT Series title in 2014. They won three races and led the HTP Motorsport to the 2nd place in the overall classification. The same position HTP Motorsport won in both Endurance and Sprint Cup but in the Sprint, Gotz and Buhk were 1st and 2nd respectively.

HTP Motorsport team dominated 2016 Blancpain GT Series with Mercedes

In 2015, HTP Motorsport again had a fine season in the Blancpain GT Series scoring a total of four victories before finishing 2nd in the overall standings, as well as in the Sprint Cup Teams’ championship. However, Maxi Buhk and Vincent Abril won the Sprint Cup Drivers’ championship title while Jules Szymkowiak was the winner of Silver Cup.

Maximilian Buhk and Vincent Abril, Bentley HTP, 2015 Blancpain GT Series

The season of 2016 was even better. HTP Motorsport again switched to Mercedes and finally became the Blancpain GT Series overall champion, mainly thanks to Maximilian Buhk and Dominik Baumann who also won the Blancpain GT Series Drivers’ championship that year. They did exceptionally well in both Endurance and Sprint Cup and were able to beat tough opponents like Audi and McLaren.

Good results in the biggest endurance racing events

HTP Motorsport regularly enters some of the world’s most important endurance racing events. In 2014, the team’s car with Buhk, Harold Primat, and Thomas Jager finished 2nd in 12 Hours of Bathurst. In 2016, HTP Motorsport’s Mercedes with driver line-up of Christian Vietoris, Marco Seefried, Renger van der Zande, and Christian Hohenadel finished 2nd in Nurburgring 24 Hours, narrowly losing to Black Falcon’s Mercedes.

Dominik Baumann and Maxi Buhk, 2016 Blancpain GT Series champions

HTP also enters the cars for the selected races of the VLN, German endurance championship in which all races are held at Nurburgring.

Photo: blancpain-gt-series.com, adac-motorsport.de, htpmotorsport.de, autosportfoto.sk