Newly established Haupt Racing Team replaces Black Falcon on AMG's factory roster

With the establishment of Haupt Racing Team, long-time Black Falcon driver Hubert Haupt has stepped into the void left by Black Falcon’s retreat from professional GT3 racing. Black Falcon meanwhile continues to focus on customer racing. Previously announced plans by Black Falcon to enter the GT World Challenge Europe, VLN Nürburgring Endurance Series and the Nürburgring 24 Hours with multiple Mercedes-AMG factory-supported cars will now be handled by Haupt Racing Team.

Black Falcon key figures such as founder and technical director Marvin Wagner, GT3 team manager Sean Paul Breslin and long-time chief engineer Renaud Dufour all move to Haupt Racing Team to continue their leading roles.

Hubert Haupt: “I am really looking forward to the new challenge. Throughout my years in motorsport, I have always had this idea of setting up my own team. I know that this involves a lot of commitment and a huge responsibility. But with the future constellation and these top people at my side, I am convinced that establishing HRT is the right decision. Especially now, in difficult times for sporting events, I also wanted to give a sign that things are continuing and that I am keeping my faith in the fascination of motorsport. I am convinced that, with HRT, we will find our place among the top teams in GT3 racing really soon.”

Black Falcon scales back to focus on customer racing. The decision to shed itself from the highly successful but successful professional GT3 racing activities is explained by Black Falcon owner Alexander Böhm as a result of the current restrictions on travelling and cancellation of events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis makes generating an income from sponsorships, customer sports programmes and company incentives a challenge for a private team that relies purely on racing.

“The last three months were by far the most difficult in the team’s 15 year history,” Alexander Böhm says. “The ban on events affects almost all of our business areas and is currently causing sales losses of over 90 percent. We have therefore decided to withdraw from professional GT3 sport until at least the end of 2021, i.e. to do without factory-supported assignments with professional drivers. This was a purely mental decision and unfortunately unavoidable for the economic security of Black Falcon.”

Haupt Racing Team will make its debut on 27 June at the Nürburgring where Patrick Assenheimer and Maro Engel take on the first VLN Nürburgring Endurance Series race of the season. More cars will enter the fray in the following races with support from Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing as the crew prepares for the Nürburgring 24 Hours on 26-27 September. Adam Christodoulou, Manuel Metzger and Luca Stolz return for driving duties on one car, while Nico Bastian, Yelmer Buurman and Hubert Haupt share driving duties on the second Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Patrick Assenheimer, Dominik Baumann, Dirk Müller and Maro Engel are scheduled to drive the third car, with Engel being a double starter.

The new team’s international campaign begins on 25 July in Imola with the GT World Challenge Europe. The Pro entry of Mercedes-AMG Team HRT will be driven by Vincent Abril, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz.

In addition to real-life racing, Haupt Racing Team is also committed to continuing its eSports sim racing activities.