Buhk/Baumann win main race Szymkowiak and Schneider with solid performanceAfter disappointment on Saturday, impressive charge through the field by Schmid/Jaafar in #85The AMG-Team HTP Motorsport took victory at the Blancpain GT Sprint Cup in Budapest (Hungary) last Sunday. The team based in Altendiez delivered an impressive performance at the premiere at the Hungaroring with the new Mercedes-AMG GT3. Maximilian Buhk and Dominik Baumann are now Runner-ups in the Sprint Championship.The HTP-Crew set competitive laptimes straight from the beginning of the weekend in the free practice sessions, underlining the good performance of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in qualifying: Maximilian Buhk (GER) and Dominik Baumann (A) set the third fastest time in the #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Bernd Schneider (GER) and Jules Szymkowiak (NDL) following in P6 in the #86 car. The sister car #85 suffered a disappointment with only P25 for Clemens Schmid (A) and Jazeman Jaafar (MAL).
Baumann took behind the wheel into the start of the qualification race. Despite losing a position in the starting trouble, second-stint-driver Buhk was able to attack towards the end. Nevertheless, the car did not finish on the podium, but crossed the finishing line in a good fourth position. Another top-finish for the driver pairing Schneider/Szymkowiak, who finished in 5th place. Despite a string of bad luck and some technical issues resulting in starting from the pitlane, Jaafar and his Austrian team-mate Schmid impressed with a fight through the field to finish in P19.
The result of the qualification race built the grid for the one-hour race on Sunday. Buhk took the lead soon after the start and was able to extend his lead until the pitstop. Baumann remained in first place after a fantastic job by the pit-crew and was able to control the race from then on. The Austrian did not give away the race win and went on to take the first victory in the Sprint-Cup this season. The #85 of Schmid/Jaafar impressed once more: After P26 on the grid, the talented young drivers finished in P12, after having set laptimes as good as the leading cars. Schneider finished in sixth place together with his Dutch team-mate Szymkowiak.
“After the disappointment from the 24 hours of Spa, the win has shown everyone that we are still here”, says Norbert Brückner, Team Principal AMG-Team HTP Motorsport. “I am satisfied and pleased with the weekend, the team did a fantastic job and the pitstop crew was perfect when it counted. Now we are heading into a very exciting end-phase of the season in the fight for the titles.”
The title decision will now take place at the final Sprint-Race on 1st and 2nd October 2016 in Barcelona (Spain). For more information, please visit www.htp-motorsport.de and www.blancpain-gt-series.com.Driver Quotes
Dominik Baumann (A) - #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3:"The team did a great job all weekend. Especially during the pitstop on Sunday they worked very quick and that was the reason why we managed to keep the lead in the race. I was able to drive my pace and take home the victory. We have not been able to reduce the gap to the leaders all together, but we are still close. The car was absolutely perfect and I was able to drive consistent laptimes. Only once I had to take risk by overtaking a slow backmarker, but I did not want to lose too much time.”
Maximilian Buhk (GER) - #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3:"We had a really good weekend and it was a lot of fun. You really noticed the development from the previous SLS-AMG GT3 to the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 when turning into tight corners, and you really saw the difference at a tight track like Budapest. I was on the better racing line going into the first corner and whilst the others drove straight on in one corner, I was able to take the lead.”
Jules Szymkowiak (NDL) - #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3:"A very interesting track on which we had two good finishes. Everyone kept saying it is almost impossible to overtake at this track even in a GT3-car, but we showed that it can be done.”Bernd Schneider (GER) - #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3:"We were able to drive on the limit with the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 and despite the heat we controlled our tyres really well. We had two solid races and are happy with P5 and P6. Many cars did not finish the race, therefore it was a good achievement.”
Clemens Schmid (A) - #85 Mercedes-AMG GT3:"Of course, it was a disappointing weekend for us, but taking into consideration how far back we were in qualifying and how we fought back it was good. We attacked well on Sunday and although the end positions don´t reflect what we are capable of, we had a good fight in the race. P12 on Sunday was very nice and we were able to drive the same laptimes as the leading cars.”
Jazeman Jaafar (MAL) - #85 Mercedes-AMG GT3:2We had a positive start to the weekend, but a few problems stopped our progress. The race on Sunday was really good again and I was able to take advantage when a few competitors fought each other, I just drove past them. But all in all we could have achieved better results.”
