Hockenheim (Germany), Sep 5 (IANS): The HRT Mercedes GT3 car No. 5, driven by Arjun Maini of India, Hubert Haupt of Germany and fellow German Florian Scholze, made its way forward over the course of the three-hour race to finish second in the Gold Class, only a few seconds behind the winner.

The 3-hour Race was action-packed with several interventions of Safety Cars which made the race extremely competitive and interesting as several positions were switched. At one point the #5 car was down in sixth place. Arjun Maini did the last 1-hour stint of the car which is normally done by the Gold Driver and brought the Car in second place.

With almost all the top manufacturers involved, the GT World Challenge Europe is the leading extremely-completive platform for GT3 racing in Europe.

This was the second podium finish for car number 5, and they are currently placed 4th in the Championship as the car had an accident in the 24 hours of Spa and the team could not complete the race.

After the successful weekend, Arjun Maini said, "It was really fun to drive, and I managed to keep a good pace throughout, which helped us to move ahead in the standings. I was very happy with the consistency, and I think with all the experience I now have, I am able to show my pace as well as consistency. Will look forward to the last round later this year. This is a team event and all three of us have been able to contribute to the success. Team HRT have done their best to give us a very competitive Mercedes GT3 and we made full use of the opportunity."

The Gold Class has One Gold Driver, One Silver Driver and One Bronze driver that make up the category.