Arjun Maini, teammates lead Haupt Racing to first podium in Monza at GT World Championship

Published at :April 24, 2023 at 11:22 PM

Modified at :April 24, 2023 at 11:22 PM

Hubert Haupt started in the car for team HRT before Sebastian Baud took over and Arjun finished it.

Arjun Maini along with his teammates from Haupt Racing got their first podium in Monza yesterday in the Bronze category in the Fanatec GT World championship - Europe driving their number 79 Red Liveried Mercedes AMG GT3. Bronze Category stipulates that there is a Requirement of one Driver in the Bronze, Silver and Gold rating respectively. In this case, Arjun is the Gold Rated Driver for Mercedes AMG.

The team got off to an excellent start with Hubert Haupt in the car, and Hubert was able to make some places despite multiple yellow flags and safety cars. Sebastian Baud then took over and maintained the momentum going till the end of his Stint which was just past the 2-hour mark out of the 3-hour endurance Race.

Arjun Maini got into the car for the final hour and came out of the pits in P3 in the Bronze Class. It was an incredible fight throughout the one hour of extremely competitive racing involving five bronze class cars with all Professionals drivers driving Mercedes, MC Laren Lamborghini and BMW and fighting for positions from P2 to P6.

At one point they were all within 5 seconds of each other, changing positions frequently as the race progressed. Arjun eventually kept P3 and brought in the first podium of the season in the first race of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Race in the Bronze Category.

Arjun said, “It felt really good to be Standing on the Podium with my teammates in Monza on the Opening Round of the Championship. This is also the First Race of the Championship and to get a Podium means a lot to me. We had to really fight throughout the 3-hour race which was never going to be easy. We lacked a bit of Pace and had to make up for it by driving hard and defending well. It was a really difficult one and am so happy that we pulled it off”.

The next round of the Championship will be held at Paul Ricard on 3rd and 4th June 2023. Arjun will also be taking part in the 24 hours of SPA held later this year.