Mercedes-Benz DTM partner HWA is busy reorganising its management team for the 2014 DTM season. Ulrich Fritz (36) joins HWA AG’s board on December 1st 2013. As a director, he will focus his energy primarily on commercial operations and team management. Fritz has plenty of knowledge of motor racing gained in his role as Senior Manager for Marketing Communications at the AMG Driving Academy & Customer Sports arm of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.
Mercedes-Benz DTM partner HWA is responsible for the engineering of all DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupés; development, design and construction of the DTM cars take place in HWA’s factory in Affalterbach under the direction of Gerhard Ungar. Since 2000 and the introduction of the ‘new’ DTM, Ungar and his team at HWA have won six drivers’, five constructors’ and nine team titles with the cars built and prepared by them in the 86 races contested so far. From 1987 to 1999, Ungar worked in various capacities for the AMG Engine Production and Development, Ltd – as chief mechanic, team manager and technical director. He was appointed technical director at HWA in 2000 and has been a member of the HWA AG management board since December 4th 2006. Ungar was made CEO at HWA AG in November 2012.
Born in Heidenheim an der Brenz in 1977, Fritz studied business economics in Constance and has worked for Mercedes-AMG GmbH since 2003, where his brief encompassed various marketing roles, plus, organising AMG Driving Academy driving events. In addition to overseeing marketing and communications, Fritz took on overall responsibility for the business management of AMG Customer Sports in 2010, which has since become one of the most successful customer sport programmes in the world. With assorted titles in international championships such as the ADAC GT Masters, FIA GT3 European Championship and the FIA GT1 World Championship, as well as more than 110 victories and 16 international titles in more than 22 race series across five continents, the SLS AMG GT3 has impressively demonstrated its outstanding performance. Having achieved sales of some 68 vehicles, the SLS AMG GT3 reached a further milestone in the programme in 2013 by securing wins in all the major GT3 endurance races: in the 12 Hours of Bathurst and in the 24 Hours of Dubai, plus victories at the Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps and in Barcelona to name but a few. A successor to Fritz at Mercedes-AMG GmbH will be announced soon.
Gerhard Ungar, Technical Director and CEO at HWA AG: “I would like to extend a warm welcome to Ulrich Fritz, who becomes HWA AG’s newest board member. We already know one another very well from our work with the SLS AMG GT3 in AMG customer sports, and I am looking forward to collaborating further with him.”
Ulrich Fritz, board member elect with responsibility for commercial operations at HWA AG: “I have really enjoyed developing the customer sports programme at Mercedes-AMG GmbH. We have had huge success with the SLS AMG GT3, particularly this season. I now look forward to the new tasks and challenges that await me at HWA AG and to working with Gerhard Ungar. I can hardly wait to get started and would also like to take the opportunity to thank all my colleagues for my time at Mercedes-AMG which was most rewarding. They make an exceptional team and have achieved an enormous amount in recent years. I am very pleased that I will be participating in the future success of the AMG brand at HWA.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “Ulrich Fritz will be a huge asset to HWA AG and will beef up the team tremendously with his long years of experience and his success in the AMG customer sports programme. In the new structure, Uli’s main input will be on the commercial side of the business and will include staff development and team management. Consequently, Gerhard Ungar will be able once again to devote himself entirely to the sporting and technical side of things. I firmly believe that with regard to their DTM programme, HWA and Mercedes-Benz are now in an excellent position to meet the challenges ahead. I must say, I am already looking forward immensely to the new 2014 DTM season in view of recent developments.”
