How a DTM giant has become a single-seater force

HWA has expanded massively over the past few seasons under the leadership of Uli Fritz. He explains how a DTM titan has become pervasive throughout motorsport

Marcus Simmons Jan 22, 2020, 2:27 PM

Engineering

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It's a racing powerhouse with so many fingers in motorsport pies that you'd think it's in danger of running out of fingers. Based on revenue, it's doubled in size over the past six years. In the past 12 months it's been heavily involved in Formula E, DTM, Formula 2, Formula 3, GT3 and GT4.

So it's little wonder German giant HWA has been attracting ever-increasing attention to its base in Affalterbach, 60 miles south-east of Hockenheim - and, crucially, not far from the HQ of Mercedes.

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Author Marcus Simmons

Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.

Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.