The second race of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup took place at Brands Hatch (England) last weekend. The AMG-Team HTP Motorsport took up their previous good performance and managed to win the qualification race and take second place in the main race with the #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
In total, the AMG-Team HTP Motorsport demonstrated a great team effort. Jules Szymkowiak set the perfect foundation when taking the lead going on the outside into the first corner at the start of the qualification race. Bernd Schneider (GER) didn´t give up the comfortable lead and drove home to a great victory.
Schneider started from Pole Position into the main race, which saw a great with 37 GT racing cars. Just short off the pitstop, the team lost a lot of time whilst overtaking backmarkers and Szymkowiak returned to the track in second place. Following a late Safety Car Period, the gap of three seconds to the leading car was gone and the #86 had a great nose-to-tail battle for victory with the WRT Audi. Szymkowiak and Schneider crossed the finishing line in second place for another podium finish.
Jazeman Jaafar (MAL) qualified the #85 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in P3 and showed his experience around Brands Hatch following his years in Formula Three. Team-mate Clemens Schmid (A) brought the #85 home in fourth place and the young driver pair presented a great show. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the rear right impact wrench during the pitstop and valid time was lost. Whilst the #85 was running in a promising P5, the car only finished in 19th position following the problem at the pitstop, a frustrating result taking into consideration what could have been.
The #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Maximilian Buhk and Dominik Baumann had a so-so weekend. Buhk started from P11 into the Quali race, but a drive-through-penalty put the #84 back into 18th place. Both drivers showed a great performance with many overtaking moves during the main race and the car finished in P7. Buhk and Baumann are now in second place of the drivers’ standings with a four-point gap to the leader.
The AMG-Team HTP Motorsport drivers have all been competitive pairings since the beginning of the season, all being capable to drive right up there at the front. The next race already takes place next weekend, with the second round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at Silverstone.
Driver Quotes
Jules Szymkowiak (NDL) – #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3:
„My start into the qualification race was very good and I was able to take the lead early on, which allowed us to control the race. Big thank you to HTP Motorsport, the car was just superb.”
Bernd Schneider (GER) – #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3:
„It all looked so easy, but it wasn´t. Especially on a track like Brands Hatch you have to focus a lot, because of all the bumps. Jules´ start was incredible and he did a great job. At the end I tried to push harder to see how far we could go in the main race. It was a great day and we achieved more than what we expected.”
Clemens Schmid (A) – #85 Mercedes-AMG GT3:
„When I pitted, there was a problem at the right rear tyre and we lost a lot of time. It is disappointing, because after P4 we could have had another good Top-5 result in the main race.”
Jazeman Jaafar (MAL) – #85 Mercedes-AMG GT3:
„We had a good Quali race and were close to the podium with fourth place. Unfortunately, we were not able to repeat the result after the problem we had during the pitstop.”
Dominik Baumann (A) – #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3:
„This weekend was not as expected, but Maxi had a great stint in the main race and made the most of it. The season is still young and we have only a few points missing to the leader in the drivers’ standings.“
Maximilian Buhk (GER) – #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3:
„We arrived in Brands Hatch as the leaders in the drivers’ standings and now we are leaving with a four-point gap, everything is still totally open. It was not the weekend we had hoped for. We were able to make up some positions in the main race and collect important points coming home in seventh.”