HWA says thank you to Mercedes-AMG for 15 years of joint customer racing

Even before the customer racing partnership, the two companies had close ties. Since its founding in 1998, HWA AG has developed the DTM racing cars bearing the Mercedes star and has also successfully raced them. By 2018, HWA and Mercedes-AMG had collected a total of eleven drivers' titles and over 180 victories, making them the most successful team in DTM history. In 2010, HWA and Mercedes-AMG joined forces in customer racing. The first model to emerge from the joint programme was the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, which was delivered to customer teams in 2011 and immediately made a splash.

 

Its follow-up, the Mercedes-AMG GT3, was raced around the world from 2016 onwards and became the most successful and best-selling GT3 car to date. HWA also played a key role in the development, construction and support of other customer sports models such as the Mercedes-AMG GT2, Mercedes-AMG GT4 and Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series. In addition, coveted special models such as the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR Roadster, the Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM AMG and the Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series were also developed and built at HWA.

 

Throughout the entire period, HWA was much more than just a technical service provider. As an integral part of the programme, the company was responsible for implementation at all levels – from engineering and manufacturing to support at the racetrack and the structural development of the entire customer sports system. Every success was the result of experience, precision and the commitment to not only operating motorsport successfully, but also reliably, efficiently and sustainably. This understanding gave rise to a customer racing programme that is still regarded as the international benchmark.

 

The vehicles developed as part of the joint customer sports programme have won countless races and championships and earned the trust of hundreds of customer teams across several continents. To date, Mercedes-AMG customer sports vehicles have been entered in over 15,000 races.

 

Initially an ambitious collaboration, it became a story written on racetracks around the world and developed into one of the most successful chapters in professional customer racing worldwide. Over many years, a programme was built up together that not only set standards but also regularly redefined them — on a technical level, in operational terms and in the way customer racing is understood worldwide.

 

Even though the collaboration is now formally coming to an end, the shared history remains a chapter that HWA looks back on with pride. The successes on the track, the technical milestones and the countless shared moments tell the story of a partnership that went far beyond contractual collaboration.

 

 

Gordian von Schöning, CTO HWA AG: “It was an incredibly successful era. The partnership with Mercedes-AMG in customer motorsport was characterised by trusting cooperation, challenges and many successes, and set global standards in terms of technical reliability, support and engineering. We were part of a successful project that remains unrivalled to this day, and we are very grateful that our work allowed us to make a significant contribution to it.”