HTP Motorsport looks back upon a successful weekend at the opening round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup in Monza (Italy). Following Pole Position for the #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in qualifying, the team secured second place after laps of nose-to-tail battling with the front runner.

Maxi Buhk set the perfect foundation for a successful race when placing the #84 race car on Pole Position with only 0.016 seconds. Dominik Baumann had a good start and was able to defend against the #66 of Keilwitz in the beginning. The team lost some time when leaving the pitlane following the first driver change, but a great charge through the field by Jazemann Jafaar saw them run in second place again.

The third stint was driven by Maxi Buhk, who had a great nose-to-tail fight with the McLaren, who was leading the race. The #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3 crossed the finishing line eventually in a good second place, collecting important points towards the championship.

The sister car also experienced a good qualifying with P5 set by Clemens Schmid. Indy Dontje started the #85 race car but suffered bad luck going into Turn 1. Following a racing incident, he was forced to run wide into the gravel trying to avoid other cars and re-joined the race in P20. Dontje fought his way back up into eighth place, when he handed the car to Luciano Bacheta. The Brit was able to improve a couple of positions. Clemens Schmid drove the last stint, but the #85 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was forced to retire in the pits in the second to last lap of the race.

After the successful result for the #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Maxi Buhk and Dominik Baumann are now leading the Drivers’ Championship in the GT Series.

Driver Quotes:

Maxi Buhk (Germany) #84:
„We had a good strategy in qualifying. The team sent me on track at the right time and there was no traffic. Then it was down to me. The field was extremely close together and I saw everyone as a competitor. It was important, to have a clean start and to get through the three hours without any major problems, which we managed.

“I am very pleased with second place, although we were so close to take the win. I prefer, to have second place safe rather than being put back following an incident during an overtaking manoeuvre. We did everything correct and made a great step forward in the championship.”

Dominik Baumann (Austria) #84:
„We had a good start and were able to defend well against the Ferrari. During the yellow phase, there was a slower car in front of me. The Ferrari was able to accelerate more and I let him pass. We lost a bit of time during the driver change, but it is great to have secured the second place on the podium.”

Jazeman Jaafar (Malaysia) #84:
„Our pitstop was very good. Unfortunately, I had a problem with the Limiter and had to re-start the car. But then we made-up some good positions and were able to catch the McLaren. We showed a great race performance in the end and gave our best.”

Indy Dontje (Netherlands) #85:
„At the start, the Bentley was very quick and some drivers were already on the throttle before the lights changed to green. When we went into Turn 2, a Ferrari went over the curbs and started flying, I was on the right side and tried to avoid him to go left, but then an Audi hit me from behind. That´s why I went into the gravel all the way around and fell back down to P20. I had a good run then, it was a lot of fun then to overtake so many cars and got back up into P8 when I pitted.”

Luciano Bacheta (Great Britain) #85:
„It was pretty straight forward in the beginning, but then I was struggling a little bit, especially with all the traffic it was tough. Although I learned a lot, I am disappointed with my own performance during the race. There is still a lot I take away from it, which I can make better in the next race.”

Clemens Schmid (Austria) #85:
„We experienced some technical issues on the second to last lap. Since Monza is a very fast circuit, we wanted to be cautious and retired the car in the pits. The Amateur-Ferrari had a really bad start in front of us and tried to make up some grounds going into Turn 2, when he caused the incident with Indy (Dontje). Our diffusor was damaged and we did not have the performance on the straight as we should have done.”