04.06.2024The deployment of the main racing team in the iconic Bilstein design at the 24h race in 2021

After the 24h race at the Nürburgring was postponed from May to September in 2020 due to the corona pandemic, the 49th edition took place again in 2021 at the usual date in the middle of the year. The experienced team around Hubert Haupt (HRT Racing) started the race with two vehicles, one of which was adorned with the iconic Bilstein paintwork, the origins of which go back to the 1970s. Anyone who has studied the events and personalities of motorsport over the past decades will inevitably stumble upon the legendary Bilstein bus, which was in the paddock at most races. From there, Hugo Emde, as Bilstein racing director and PR boss, held some crucial strings behind the scenes of German motorsport.

The livery of the Haupt Racing Team is a homage to this time and the chassis manufacturer from Ennepetal, which is still a partner of the racing team today. So that this paintwork can find a place in every model car collection, the label Ixo has launched the Mercedes AMG GT3 in a scale of 1:18, which the Haupt Racing Team used in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 2021. The attention to detail of the vehicle in which Adam Christodoulou, Maro Engel, Manuel Metzger and Luca Stolz were allowed to sit is in no way inferior to the original. Ixo recreated the details of the Mercedes' aero components as well as the aforementioned paintwork in the Bilstein brand colors yellow and blue.

The 49th edition of the legendary Eifel Marathon started extremely well for the Mercedes with starting number 4. Manuel Metzger secured third place on the grid for the AMG-GT3 in top qualifying. Luca Stolz, who started the race, put the HRT team in the lead with slicks in the rain. On Saturday evening, however, there was a red flag at around 9:30 p.m. and the resulting cancellation of the race due to fog and visibility of less than 70m in parts of the route. With a restart on Sunday afternoon, the race will go down in history as the shortest 24-hour race of all time. The team led by team boss Hubert Haupt was in the lead until the race was interrupted. After Christodoulou, who was in the lead, drove into the pits at the same time as the race was stopped, the Mercedes AMG GT3 with starting number 4 fell back to second place and had to restart behind the BMW from the ROWE RACING team. After a total of 37 laps, Team HRT unfortunately had to end the race early due to a defect.

For team boss Hubert Haupt, the year 2021 was also very special personally because he created an absolute novelty. The then 52-year-old returned to the cockpit of one of his specially used vehicles at the Nürburgring race in the 2021 DTM season. This makes Hubert Haupt the only driver to have competed in all three eras of the DTM. Both in the classic DTM (1984-1996), in the second era from 2000 to 2020 and now also in the third era of GT racing cars, which has been taking place since 2021.

Mercedes AMG GT3 #4 24h Nürburgring 2021 Christodoulou, Engel, Metzger, Stolz, RRP €79.95, item-no.: HRT-I-AMG-21-1804-24H