Victory in the ADAC GT Masters season opener
The ADAC GT Masters season opener took place in ideal weather conditions at the Lausitzring. In the first qualifying of the new season, Luca Stolz made his first mark. With the #22 Toksport WRT Mercedes-AMG GT3, the 25-year-old went out onto the track early in the session and posted a fastest time of 1m21.867s that remained unbeaten throughout the half-hour session.
At the start of the race, Stolz initially lost a position, but then put the driver in front of him under pressure. On lap ten, Stolz reclaimed the lead. Just before the halfway point, the safety car was deployed due to an accident. At the restart, the #22 car lost the lead once again, but after the driver change, Maro Engel managed to leave the pit lane ahead of the entire GT3 opposition. Then, the Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador defended the lead until the finish in a commanding way. After 43 laps, victory for the Toksport WRT team in the 2020 ADAC GT Masters season opener was in the books.
The #47 Team HTP WINWARD Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 made a huge step forward at the Lausitzring: Indy Dontje (NED) and Maximilian Götz (GER) started the race from 17th place on the grid and finished the competition in seventh position. Scoring another top ten finish in the first ADAC GT Masters race, the #36 Schütz Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Marvin Dienst (GER) and Philipp Frommenwiler (SUI) finished ninth.
Maro Engel, Toksport WRT (#22): “First of all, thanks to the DMSB, the ADAC and everybody who has been working together for the championship finally to get underway, be it delayed. For us, victory obviously is a great start of the new season. With his pole this morning, Luca has laid the foundation, that was a mega lap. Thanks also to the Toksport WRT team that gave us a super strong car here.”
Luca Stolz, Toksport WRT (#22): “The start was a very turbulent one. I lost one place to the Porsche of which I haven’t got any clue where it came from all of a sudden. Later on, I had slight contact with the car. Actually, he should have seen me. Once I was in front, I pulled a little gap until the safety car came out. The car works really well when running free. However, when the safety car was on track, I collected a lot of pick-up. That enabled the Porsche to get past me at the restart.”
Sixth podium in the fourth NLS round
In the Eifel, where the fourth round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series took place, the Saturday also started with a pole position for Mercedes-AMG. In the rainy qualifying, all drivers had to deal with difficult track conditions. As the track slightly dried out towards the end of the session, Fabian Schiller (GER) managed to improve his time with the #23 Mercedes-AMG GT3 once more and put the GetSpeed Rooster Rojo in first place on the grid as a result.
At the start of the race, the majority of the front-running group took the risk of going out onto the Nordschleife on slicks in spite of some wet patches on the track. So did Schiller, who put in a strong start. The 23-year-old defended his lead and quickly pulled clear from the 133-strong field. In the following stints, Janine Hill (GBR) and John Shoffner (USA), Schiller’s teammates in the SP9-AM car, lost positions to the experienced opponents from the SP9-PRO teams. Schiller, who got back into the car for the final stint, eventually brought tenth place overall home and also secured victory in the SP9-AM class at the same time.
Patrick Assenheimer (GER) of the Mercedes-AMG Team HRT AutoArenA started the four-hour race from fifth place on the grid. After a double stint, the 28-year-old Nordschleife expert had brought the #6 car to the front and even racked up laps in the lead of the field in the process. After that, Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Dirk Müller (GER) also completed faultless laps and consistently kept the GT3 in the front-running group of the order corrected for pit stops. In the final stages of the race, Müller held on to third place and after 27 laps, he secured the podium finish for the HRT team, newly founded this season. The result also is the sixth top three classification for Mercedes-AMG in the fourth NLS round.
Mercedes-AMG was also successful in the SP8T class of the Nürburgring Endurance Series: BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR claimed 15th place overall and also its fourth class victory from four races. Mustafa Mehmet Kaya (TUR), Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Mike Stursberg (GER) alternated behind the wheel of the #155 Mercedes-AMG GT4. Third place in the SP8T class went to the #148 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Customer Racing Team Hangar Zero by J.v.O. Autosport with Phil Hill (GER), André Krumbach (GER) and Kaj Schubert (DEN)
Patrick Assenheimer, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT AutoArenA (#6): “That was a super intense race. The first laps with slicks at the track that wasn’t yet entirely dry really were exciting. But we made it through without accidents which was mega, of course. When we then lost some time in traffic, we changed our strategy to an early pit stop. That worked out pretty well. The performance of the car was great again!”
Domink Baumann, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT AutoArenA (#6): “I did the middle stint and it was really hot at the track. The car ran superbly and I had some nice duels out there on track, that was fun. Our podium finish is a super achievement. We also have racked up many kilometres and collected a lot of data in all weather conditions which is certainly good for the upcoming races here at the Nordschleife.”
Dirk Müller, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT AutoArenA (#6): “Once again, the Eifel has shown everything from flooding to summer. Early in the morning, it was relatively slippery, but our Mercedes-AMG GT3 is simply fun to drive, also in the rain. In the race, it was very exciting. We were fighting for second place, but then had some bad luck with a yellow flag situation and in traffic. Dominik and Patrick have done a super job once again, and HRT as well, of course. The strategy was great and brought us up to the front again.”
Fabian Schiller, GetSpeed Rooster Rojo (#23): “Qualifying really was extremely difficult because there was a lot of water standing on track. There was much aquaplaning, but our car worked very well. We have learned a lot, this was the first time for us driving in the rain. Of course, pole position was ideal for us. Starting on slicks was the right decision. We managed to stay in front and I was able to hand over the car while in the lead. John and Janine put in a good performance, too, so that we were rewarded with P10 and the class win.”
