Winward Racing also known asHTP Motorsport andHTP Winward Motorsport is a German-American-based auto racing team. The team mainly competes inGT3 based series such as theGT World Challenge Europe. The team was founded after HTP Investment BV took over Heico Motorsport.
Wim de Pundert was one of the founders of HTP Investment BV. Along with Klaas Meertens the duo bought, managed and sold various companies starting in 1990. The private equity company became more Germany focused when it acquired the Knaus Tabbert caravan manufacturers, Morelo Reisemobile caravan manufacturers and the Halberg-Guss foundry.[1] It also owned Reum Kunststoff- und Metalltechnik GmbH which was sold to Grammer Interior Components in 2015.[2]
The racing team was founded in 2007 when father Wim and son Reynier de Pundert bought twoFormula Gloria tube framed single-seaters.[3] Reynier finished 8th in the amateur championship.[4] The team returned the following season with Reynier winning the championship while Wim run only a partial season.[5] In 2008 the team also fielded Christiaan Frankenhout in the international Gloria Scouting Cup where he finished third.[6] After the demise of the short-lived single-seater series, the team entered the DutchRenault Clio Cup for 2009, 2010 and 2011. During the seasons Reynier de Pundert did not score a podium finish in the overall classification.[7] In 2009 the team also joinedDutch GT4 with anAston Martin Vantage forJunior Strous. Strous won one race and scored four podium finishes.[8][9]
Automotive tuning companyHeico Sportiv ran racing cars since 1995. The GermanVolvo tuning company first entered aVolvo 850 in the24 Hours of Nürburgring. The racing of various Volvo's ended in 2001 when the owners of Volvo,Premier Automotive Group, ended all customer and factory supported racing activities. Heico Sportiv restarted the racing programme for Volvo's, which were in-house developed, in 2007. The team focused on fuel efficiency with diesel and biofuel.[10]
In late 2010 the team acquired twoMercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.[11] The team eventually entered three SLS AMG's in the2011 ADAC GT Masters. AustriansDominik Baumann andHarald Proczyk were the best placed Heico Motorsport drivers. Baumann and Proczyk scored four podium finishes placing them fifth in the series championship. Baumann also competed in the2011 FIA GT3 European Championship with teammateBrice Bosi. AtCircuit Paul Ricard the team scored the first ever GT3 race win for an SLS AMG.[12] Heico Motorsport continued in 2012 winning the team championship in theFIA GT3 European Championship. Working withCharouz Racing System Baumann andMaximilian Buhk won the team championship.[13]
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HTP Investment BV has had sponsorship agreements with Heico Motorsport since the team enteredGT3 racing in 2011. HTP Investment BV took over Heico Motorsport at the beginning of 2013. Heico Motorsport team principal Norbert Brückner remained as the principal of the new team.[14] Winning the2013 24 Hours of Spa and the following1000km of the Nürburgring this was enough for Buhk to secure the2013 Blancpain Endurance Series championship. HTP Motorsport won the In2014 the best result for HTP Motorsport in the Blancpain Endurance Series was a second place at theNürburgring. The team was more successful in the2014 ADAC GT Masters. Maxi Buhk andMaxi Götz won atOschersleben andEuroSpeedway Lausitz. Götz won the2014 Blancpain Sprint Series with HTP Motorsport.
The team switched manufacturer for the 2015 racing season. In December 2014 it was announced thatBentley selected HTP Motorsport to run one of their factory supported GT3 programs. The team entered five newBentley Continental GT3 cars.[15] The Blancpain Endurance Series was unsuccessful with a new driver line up failing to provide results. A ninth place at the2015 24 Hours of Spa forVincent Abril,Mike Parisy andHarold Primat was the team's best result in the Endurance Series. Abril partnered with Buhk in the2015 Blancpain Sprint Series winning two qualifying races and two main races. Along with four more podium this was enough to secure the drivers championship. Fellow HTP Motorsport driverJules Szymkowiak also won the Silver Cup classification. In the2015 ADAC GT Masters the team won a single race withLuca Stolz andJeroen Bleekemolen winning at Oschersleben.
The cooperation with Bentley lasted only one season. The team returned to Mercedes-Benz for 2016. The team entered four cars, in theBlancpain GT Series and at the24 Hours of Nürburgring. The team opted not to continue in theADAC GT Masters. Team owner Wim de Pundert also returned to the racing seat in the gentleman driver based2016 Blancpain GT Sports Club.[16] The return to Mercedes-Benz also meant new factory drivers joined the team such asIndy Dontje,Thomas Jäger andChristian Hohenadel. Former Mercedes-Benz factory drivers also returned such as Buhk and Baumann. Buhk and Baumann, joined byJazeman Jaafar, won a single race atSilverstone in the newly introducedMercedes-AMG GT3. In 2017 the team also returned to the ADAC GT Masters, but without notable results. In the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup Buhk, joined byJimmy Eriksson andFranck Perera scored three podium finishes placing them third in the drivers championship.
HTP Motorsport was one of the teams selected byAMG Customer Racing to test theMercedes-AMG GT4 in the2017 Touring Car Endurance Series. Debuting atCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Dontje,Bernd Schneider and Jörg Viebahn suffered technical difficulties after running at the front early in the race.[17]
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In 2020 the German team HTP Motorsport joined with Bryce Ward's Houston (Texas) based Winward Racing to form HTP Winward Motorsport after they started a successful partnership in 2017. Since then they had already enteredMercedes AMG GT4 cars in theMichelin Pilot Challenge. HTP Winward Motorsport is now the biggestMercedes-AMG customer team.
When theADAC Formel Masters transformed into theADAC Formula 4 (in accordance withFIA Formula 4 regulations), HTP Motorsport entered threeTatuus F4-T014 cars. The team was run by Brückner and formerHWA Team CEO Gerhard Ungar.[18] Marvin Dienst and Jenneau Esmeijer raced the full 2015 season while Carrie Schreiner ran a partial season. Dienst won eight races and clinched the championship, while Esmeijer settled for seventh. At the end of 2015Ralf Schumacher took over the role from Brücker renaming the teamUS Racing, ending the involvement from HTP Motorsport inADAC Formula 4.[19][20]
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo |  Lucas Auer | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 152 | 5th | 3rd |
 Philip Ellis | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 129 | 7th | |||
| 2022 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Lucas Auer | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 153 | 2nd | 2nd |
 David Schumacher | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28th | |||
| Maximilian Götz | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 74 | 11th | 13th | ||
| 2023 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Lucas Auer | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 111 | 9th | 9th |
| David Schumacher | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 25th | |||
| 2024 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Maro Engel | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 203 | 3rd | 3rd |
| Lucas Auer | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 116 | 10th | |||
| 2025 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Maro Engel | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 184 | 3rd | 3rd |
 Jules Gounon | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 142 | 9th |
| Year | Team | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Rounds | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | HTP Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | 26 | Maximilian Buhk | 1–5 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 90 | 10th | 5th |
 Renger van der Zande | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 30th | |||||
| Maximilian Götz | 1–6 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 136 | 5th | |||||
| 27 | Maximilian Götz | 7–8 | |||||||||||
| Luca Stolz | All | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 24th | |||||
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 1–4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 36th | |||||
| Mathias Lauda | 5–6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 38th | |||||
| 2015 | Bentley Team HTP | Bentley Continental GT3 | 7 | Luca Stolz[21] | All | 16 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 101 | 9th | 6th |
| Jeroen Bleekemolen[21] | 1–4 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 66 | 16th | |||||
 Vincent Abril | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 34th | |||||
| Maximilian Buhk | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 32nd | |||||
| Tom Dillmann | 7–8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 30th | |||||
| 8 | Fabian Hamprecht | All | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 19th | ||||
| Clemens Schmid | |||||||||||||
| 2017 | Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 48 | Indy DontjeJ | All | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 66 | 13th | 6th |
| Marvin Kirchhöfer | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 15th | ||||||
| Maximilian Buhk | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 35th | |||||
| 84 | Patrick AssenheimerJ | All | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 16th | ||||
| Maximilian Götz | |||||||||||||
| 2018 | Mann-Filter Team HTP | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 47 | Maximilian Götz | All | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 117 | 4th | Champion |
| Markus Pommer | |||||||||||||
| 48 | Maximilian Buhk | All | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 84 | 5th | |||||
| Indy DontjeJ | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | Mann-Filter Team HTP | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 47 | Indy Dontje | All | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 145 | 3rd | 4th |
| Maximilian Götz | |||||||||||||
| 48 |  Philip Ellis | All | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 21st | |||||
| Fabian VettelJ | |||||||||||||
| 2020 | Mann-Filter - Team HTP-Winward | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 47 | Indy Dontje | All | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 87 | 9th | 10th |
| Maximilian Götz | |||||||||||||
| Knaus - Team HTP-Winward | 48 | Philip Ellis | All | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 112 | 6th | 8th | |||
 Raffaele Marciello | |||||||||||||
| 2021 | Mann-Filter Team Landgraf-HTP WWR | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | 70 | Maximilian Buhk | All | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 150 | 4th | 5th |
| Raffaele Marciello |
| Year | Team | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Class | Laps | Overall Position | Class Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Indy DontjePhilip EllisMaro Engel Russell Ward | GTD | 745 | 22th | 1st |
| 2022 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Lucas AuerPhilip Ellis Mikaël GrenierRussell Ward | GTD | 699 | 28th | 6th |
| 2023 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Indy DontjePhilip EllisDaniel MoradRussell Ward | GTD | 710 | Ret.(39th) | Ret. |
| 2024 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Indy DontjePhilip EllisDaniel MoradRussell Ward | GTD | 731 | 19th | 1st |
| 2025 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Lucas AuerIndy DontjePhilip EllisRussell Ward | GTD | 719 | 29th | 4th |
| 2026 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 48 | GTD PRO | ||||
| 57 | GTD |
| Year | Team | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Class | Laps | Overall Position | Class Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Marvin DienstPhilip EllisRussell Ward | GTD | 287 | 39th | 12th |
| 2023 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Indy DontjePhilip EllisRussell Ward | GTD | 198 | Ret. | Ret. |
| 2024 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Indy DontjePhilip EllisRussell Ward | GTD | 314 | 29th | 1st |
| 2025 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Indy DontjePhilip EllisRussell Ward | GTD | 327 | 28th | 1st |
| Year | Team | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Rounds | Class | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Michelin Endurance Cup | Team Standings Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Philip Ellis | All | GTD | 12 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2714 | 27 | 5th |
| Russell Ward | All | |||||||||||||
| Lucas Auer | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Mikaël Grenier | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Marvin Dienst | 2, 7, 12 | |||||||||||||
| 2023 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Russell Ward | All | GTD | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2562 | 20 | 10th |
| Philip Ellis | 1–4, 6–11 | |||||||||||||
| Indy Dontje | 1–2, 5, 11 | |||||||||||||
| Daniel Morad | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Raffaele Marciello | 5 | |||||||||||||
| 2024 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Philip Ellis | All | GTD | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3266 | 41 | Champion |
| Russell Ward | All | |||||||||||||
| Indy Dontje | 1–2, 6, 10–11 | |||||||||||||
| Daniel Morad | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 2025 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 57 | Philip Ellis | All | GTD | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3103 | 31 | Champion |
| Russell Ward | All | |||||||||||||
| Indy Dontje | 1–2, 6, 10–11 | |||||||||||||
| Lucas Auer | 1 |
| Year | Team | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Rounds | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Team Standings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 33 | Russell Ward | 1–6, 8–10 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 129 | 19th |
| Indy Dontje | 1–6, 8, 10 | |||||||||||
| Dominik Baumann | 9 | |||||||||||
| 57 | Bryce Ward | All | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 131 | 18th | |||
| Christian Hohenadel | 1–6, 8–10 | |||||||||||
| Russell Ward | 7 | |||||||||||
| 2020 | Winward Racing/HTP Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 4 | Russell Ward | All | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 224 | 7th |
| Indy Dontje | 1–2, 4–6, 9 | |||||||||||
| Billy Johnson | 3 | |||||||||||
| Nico Bastian | 7–8 | |||||||||||
| 57 | Bryce Ward | All | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 207 | 10th | |||
| Philip Ellis | 1, 4–5, 9 | |||||||||||
| Alec Udell | 2–3, 6–8 | |||||||||||
| 2021 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 4 | Indy Dontje | 1–5, 7–8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1890 | 10th |
| Russell Ward | 1–8 | |||||||||||
| Mikaël Grenier | 6 | |||||||||||
| 57 | Alec Udell | 3–8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1510 | 15th | |||
| Bryce Ward | 3–8 | |||||||||||
| 2023 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 57 | Daniel Morad | 1–6, 8–11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1770 | 14th |
| Bryce Ward | 1–6, 8–11 | |||||||||||
| 2024 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 57 | Bryce Ward | All | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2250 | 7th |
| Daniel Morad | 1–8, 10 | |||||||||||
| Philip Ellis | 9 | |||||||||||
| 2025 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | 57 | Bryce Ward | 1–8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1880 | 12th |
| Daniel Morad | 1–6 | |||||||||||
| Philip Ellis | 7 | |||||||||||
| Daan Arrow | 8 |
| Year | Team | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Class | Laps | Overall Position | Class Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 16 | Gabriele Piana Rinat SalikhovViktor Shaytar Sergey Stolyarov | GT3-Pro Am | 583 | 11th | 3rd |
| 2026 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 16 | |||||
| 81 |
| Year | Team | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Class | Laps | Overall Position | Class Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Winward Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 16 | Daan Arrow Sergey StolyarovMaro Engel | ||||
| 81 | Marvin DienstGabriele Piana Rinat Salikhov |
| Year | Team | Class | Car | Car No. | Drivers | Rounds | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Drivers Standings | Team/Car Standings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | Winward Racing | LMGT3 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO | 16 | Maro Engel | All | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 8th | 8th |
| Viktor Shaytar | All | |||||||||||||
| Sergey Stolyarov | All | |||||||||||||
| 81 | Gabriele Piana | All | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 65 | 3rd | 3rd | ||||
| Rinat Salikhov | All | |||||||||||||
| Jules Gounon | 1–2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 35 | 7th | ||||||
| Luca Stolz | 3–6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 11th |
| Year | Car | Drivers | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | D.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Tatuus F4-T014 | Marvin Dienst | 24 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 347 | 1st |
| Janneau Esmeijer | 24 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 136 | 4th | ||
| Carrie Schreiner | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44th |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| ADAC Formula 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Car | No. | Drivers | OSC | RBR | SPA | LAU | NÜR | SAC | OSC | HOC | Pos. | Pts | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Tatuus F4-T014 (Abarth) | 27 | Marvin Dienst | 1 | 1 | 6 | Ret | 3 | 20 | Ret | 6 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | Ret | 1st | 347 |
| 28 | Janneau Esmeijer | Ret | 2 | Ret | 9 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 4 | Ret | 2 | 2 | 4 | 24 | Ret | 9 | 13 | 24 | 6 | 11 | Ret | 4 | 7th | 136 | ||
| 35 | Carrie Schreiner | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | 30 | 33 | 27 | 19 | 19 | Ret | 28 | 26 | 29 | 19 | 24 | 17 | 29 | 15 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 21 | 44th | 0 | |||||
| Current series | |
|---|---|
| GT World Challenge Europe | 2013–2018, 2020–present |
| Michelin Pilot Challenge | 2018–2021, 2023–present |
| IMSA SportsCar Championship | 2021–present |
| Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | 2021–present |
| Middle East Trophy | 2025–present |
| Gulf 12 Hours | 2025–present |
| Former series | |
| FIA GT3 European Championship | 2011–2012 |
| ADAC GT Masters | 2011–2015, 2017–2021 |
| FIA GT Series | 2013 |
| ADAC Formula 4 | 2015 |
| 24H Series | 2016–2020 |
| International GT Open | 2018–2021 |
| Nürburgring Endurance Series | 2019 |
| ADAC GT4 Germany | 2020 |
| GT World Challenge America | 2019–2022 |
| Le Mans Cup | 2023 |
| Asian Le Mans Series | 2024–2025 |
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