Nürburgring – A total of three Mercedes-AMG GT3 and two Mercedes-AMG GT4 took the start in the first season round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft. Wintry conditions having prevailed at the Nürburgring prior to the race, the Eifel showed itself from its best angle on Saturday afternoon.
In sunshine and with temperatures around eight degrees Centigrade, the #47 Mercedes-AMG GT3 started from fourth place on the grid into the four-hour race in the Green Hell. Starting driver Renger van der Zande (NED) and his team-mates Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Edoardo Mortara (ITA) were on course for a podium finish for a long time thanks to a consistent performance. After a thrilling end of the race with several yellows in which the #47 Mercedes-AMG GT4 lost valuable time, final driver Edoardo Mortara crossed the finish line in fifth place after a total of 28 laps.
Driving the sister car with starting number 48, Indy Dontje (NED), Christian Hohenadel (GER) and Renger van der Zande, who was pulling double duty, finished the race in eighth place overall and thus also scored a top ten result.
Mercedes-AMG GT4 takes maiden class win
Another highlight of the weekend was the first class win worldwide for the new Mercedes-AMG GT4. Nico Bastian, Stefan Karg, Fidel Leib and Moritz Oberheim (all GER) showed a convincing performance with the #163 BLACK FALCON Team IDENTICA Mercedes-AMG GT4 and secured victory in the SP10 class. Gabriele Piana (ITA), Mustafa Mehmet Kaya (TUR) and Miguel Toril Boquoi (ESP) claimed third place in the SP10 class with the #162 BLACK FALCON Team TMD Friction Mercedes-AMG GT4 and thus also made it onto the podium.
Dominik Baumann, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #47: “All in all, we can be happy with the race. The car ran perfectly and everything worked out really well. Unfortunately, we lost valuable time due to a couple of yellow flags. At the end of the day, fifth place is good. We had a podium finish within reach, but today, it just wasn’t to be. The race was a really good test with the Mercedes-AMG GT3.”
Christian Hohenadel, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #48: “The Mercedes-AMG GT3 ran very well, just like one would want it to. Every driver got to complete his mileage and was able to find back the routine after the winter. This was a successful and a very solid first race of the season.”
Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “We can be very happy with our start into the racing season at the Nordschleife. Here, we scored the maiden class win worldwide with the Mercedes-AMG GT4. Being able to score such good results with the car this early in the season shows that we have done a good job. With our GT3 in the SP9 PRO class, we were on course for a podium finish for a long time, but yellow flags at a late stage in the race affected our strategy, so that we eventually finished in fifth place. We have some homework to do and we will take care of it in order to be optimally prepared for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.”
