Mann-Filter Team HTP win Team title before end of season

• Outfit is best team in the Super Sports Car League for first time
• Team have so far secured two wins and three more podium finishes

Hockenheim: The team champions in the 2018 ADAC GT Masters have already been decided. Mann-Filter Team HTP secured the win in the team competition before the end of the season thanks to their fourth place in Saturday’s race during this final weekend at Hockenheim. “The team are totally deserving winners of the title with their indomitable fighting spirit and will to win,” said delighted Team Principal, Norbert Brückner. “Winning in the face of the many strong and famous teams in the ADAC GT Masters is worth its weight in gold and means a lot to me.”

The racing team from Altendiez in the Westerwald have fielded two bright yellow Mercedes-AMG GT3s this season, one Markus Pommer (27, GER) and Maximilian Götz (32, GER) and the other for Indy Dontje (25, NL) and Maximilian Buhk (25, GER). Brückner is highly delighted with both driver pairings, who have each taken one win and five podium finishes from the first 13 of 14 races. But their consistency has also been impressive, as no other team have secured points in the team competition in the twelve out of 13 races held so far. “First off, I have to say, they are all great guys, who know how to get on well with one another and pull together as a team,” said the team boss. “Our drivers know that they can drive as fast as they like but can win nothing without their crew, and knowing that, they act accordingly. The guys in the pits would move heaven and earth for their drivers. And then, there’s the technical aspects. All four are willing to compromise as far as setup goes and are prepared to sing from the same song-sheet. And all four are terribly heavy on the accelerator!”

HTP, the acronym stands for High Tec Performance, was founded in the winter of 2012/13 by Brückner and Dutchman, Wim de Pundert. “Wim and I have always shared a great passion for motorsport,” said Brückner. “I myself have been part of the scene for decades, and at some point, we got the idea of setting up a service platform together to go racing.” In their debut season, 2013, the team got very close to winning the ADAC GT Masters championship. Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Götz fought for the championship win with their Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 until the season finale at Hockenheim, and it was only a technical defect in Sunday’s race that ended their title hopes. In 2014, the team won two more times before a change was made the following year. As a Bentley factory team, right at the start of the season in Oschersleben, the outfit secured the only victory in the ADAC GT Masters for the British luxury marque. In 2016, the outfit focused on various other race outings but returned to the series last year with two Mercedes-AMG GT3s.

This season, they took the first title win that they had worked so hard to achieve in the Super Sports Car League. “For years, this race series has been so evenly matched that it takes an absolutely perfect performance and the necessary bit of racing luck to hang on to the lead for a whole season,” said Brückner, adding that it’s his employees and the cars that are the secret of his success: “In the end, it’s always the people that make the difference. Only with a dedicated bunch of guys, who can all rely totally on one another is it possible to achieve success. Lone wolves don’t get far in motor racing. And with Mercedes-AMG, we have a superb partner on the technical side. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is a vehicle that performs well at every racetrack.”

The racing team’s success in international GT sport shows that their maiden title win in the ADAC GT Masters was probably only a matter of time. Previous triumphs include several drivers’ and team titles in various Blancpain GT series and success in the 24-Hours of Spa during their debut season, 2013. Apart from racing GT3 cars, the support of young talent also plays an important part at HTP, who set up HTP Karting at the end of 2016 to compete in the ADAC Kart Masters where they have also won titles and races.