Arjun Maini, Hubert Haupt and Jordan Lowe drove their Mercedes AMG GT3 for Team HRT to an overall 8th place but secured second position (P2) in classification as they took part in the Pro-AM Category of 24 Hours of Nurburgring in Germany.
Arjun earlier had qualified the car in seventh position (P7) overall over a series of three different qualifying sessions in what is his maiden participation in this prestigious race.
The course witnessed an amazing atmosphere at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, also referred to as the “Green Hell” as it is classified as one of the most difficult races in the world with a track length of 25.3 kilometres and around 73 corners with changing weather conditions over the 24 hours making it a real test of endurance racing.
This is the first time that an Indian driver has taken part in this race and has not only finished the gruelling 24-hour race in the top 8 overall but finished P2 in the Pro-AM class, which consists of one professional driver (Arjun, Gold Rated) and one Silver Rated (Jordon) and one Bronze Rated driver.
DTM driver Arjun Maini was the fastest in the “Green Hell” at the start of the ADAC TotalEnergies 24hr Nurburgring on May 18, in 8:13.190 minutes.
The Indian driver set the fastest time of the day shortly after the start of the second qualifying session on Thursday evening in the #6 Bilstein-Mercedes-AMG after he had already been the fastest in the 1st qualifying session in the afternoon (8:14.785 minutes).
Exactly 136 cars were on the entry list for the 51st edition of the ADAC TotalEnergies 24h Nurburgring. The endurance classic on the legendary Nordschleife is thus just as imposing as last year when 135 race cars threw themselves into the battle twice around the clock at the anniversary event.
As expected, the strongest vehicle classes — SP9 Pro and Pro-AM — had strong competition with Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche having either factory teams or factory-supported entries.
Maini started the race at 4 pm on Saturday in P7 and did a double stint, which is approximately 2 hours. By the time he handed over the car to Jordan, the Mercedes AMG GT3 was in P5 overall. Maini also did two double stints at night when it gets most difficult to drive. Overall, Maini spent over 10 hours driving in the 24-hour race.
There were several incidents in the night that affected many cars but being an Endurance Race the is key to not only drive very fast but also ensure that the car is brought back without damage over the finish line.
Maini drove the Last 2 hours of the race to Cross the Chequered Flag on Sunday at 4.14 pm finishing 161 laps of the Nurburgring and covering a distance of over 4000 kilometres at an Average Speed of 173 kilometres per hour when you count 21 Pitstops, a totally approximately an Hour during the race, his management team informed in a release on Monday.
Maini was extremely delighted with this performance in the race. “I have raced the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Spa in the past but nothing comes close to the challenging 24 Hours of Nurburgring. I am really happy to have not only Finished my first 24 Hours race in P8 overall but also managed a Class P2 in the Pro-AM Category.”
“It’s really challenging when you have 136 cars on the track and have to be extremely smart about how you overtake the slower cars. One small mistake can cost you the race. I am now looking forward to the start of my DTM season next week with the opener at Oschersleben the coming weekend. Would really like to Thank Team HRT and my teammates and sponsors for making this happen,” he added.