DTM: Successful Saturday race with four Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the top five
With high ambitions and boosted by the double success from Portimão, the four Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams headed to Klettwitz for this weekend’s second round of the DTM season. At the around 4.6 kilometres long Lausitzring, Lucas Auer, the winner of the season opener, immediately underlined his excellent form and put the #22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on pole position for the first time this year in Saturday’s 20-minute qualifying.
At the start of the race, however, the Austrian was unable to successfully defend his top position. The Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD driver was second going into the banked first corner, exclusively used by DTM this year. After an early pit stop, Lucas Auer also had to let his fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Luca Stolz with the number 4 car of Mercedes-AMG Team HRT pull away. Eventually, Lucas Auer was third across the finish line and claimed the lead in the drivers’ championship by virtue of this repeated podium result, albeit just for one night.
Luca Stolz, who already was on the podium together with Auer at Portimão three weeks ago, finished in second place. His teammate Arjun Maini (IND) with the #36 Mercedes-AMG Teams HRT car in fourth and Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing’s Maro Engel in fifth rounded out a strong overall result with four Mercedes-AMG GT3s among the best five. Last year’s winner Maximilian Götz (GER) also scored one championship point with tenth place in the #1 GT3.
A red flag during second qualifying mixed up some tactics. Maro Engel was still able to secure third on the grid with the #88 car. The Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador made a good start and cemented his second place. After the mandatory pit stop, the Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing driver posted the fastest lap time of the race and secured the additional championship point, but there was no more opportunity to mount a decisive challenge against the leader.
GT Masters: MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF scores next podium result
Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing also scored valuable points for the overall standings in the second ADAC GT Masters season round that was held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg in Austria at the same time. With the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday, Raffaele Marciello in the #48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 got himself into an ideal position for the first of two one-hour races.
There, he finished on the podium for the second time this season, together with his teammate Jonathan Aberdein. During the season opener at Oschersleben, the MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF duo had already convinced, ending up in third and fourth place. Although the #48 car didn’t finish any higher up than 14th place on Sunday, Aberdein and Marciello head home from Styria in second place of the drivers’ standings.
On Sunday, the best-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 was the #8 Mercedes-AMG Team ZvO car. From ninth place on the grid, Daniel Juncadella (ESP) and Jan Marschalkowski (GER) worked their way up to seventh position. Oschersleben race winners Jules Gounon (FRA) and Fabian Schiller (GER) also scored points for the championships by finishing twelfth in both races with the #4 Drago Racing Team ZvO GT3.
High-class sprint series travel to Imola and Zandvoort in June
In June, the third season rounds are on for both prestigious GT3 series. DTM is racing at the famous Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola for the first time in its history on 18th and 19th June. The five Mercedes-AMG GT3s racing in ADAC GT Masters will be in action again at Circuit Zandvoort on 25th and 26th June.
Thomas Jäger, Sporting Director DTM: “Even though it didn’t work out with a victory this weekend, our Customer Racing Teams once again proved the performance of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in an impressive way this weekend. Getting four cars among the first five on Saturday is anything but evident in this close competition in DTM. On Sunday, we had a bit of bad luck because of the red flag in qualifying. Nevertheless, we can also be happy with the second race with a further podium finish by Maro Engel. All in all, also with the podium success in GT Masters, it was a successful motorsport weekend for us.”
Lucas Auer, DTM, driver, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD #22: “On Saturday, it was a very good day for us with pole position and the podium result. Today, it was a very tough race that we now have to analyse. However, I am already looking forward to the next chance at Imola.”
Arjun Maini, DTM, driver, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #36: “I have mixed feelings after this weekend. Yesterday, we had a really good pace, moreover, the guys have delivered a strong pit stop once again. However, fourth place at the end shows that we are developing into the right direction. Today, it was a difficult race for me because of the red flag in qualifying. With 13th place, we still managed a good recovery drive. Too bad that it wasn't enough to score points today after the good points yesterday. Still, I can be confident looking ahead to the next races in Imola.”
Maro Engel, DTM, driver, Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing #88: “First of all, many thanks to the team. We had a strong car throughout the weekend. Of course, third on the grid was a good initial position today. I also made a better start than yesterday and laid the foundation with it. In turn 2, it was close once again when an opponent ran into my car. All in all, I am super happy with the result.”
Raffaele Marciello, ADAC GT Masters, driver MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF #48: “All in all, it was a good weekend during which we were able to score valuable points for the championship. On Sunday, moving up any further was difficult because of the poor starting grid position. I hope that it will be a bit better during the next race weekend at Zandvoort.”
Jonathan Aberdein, ADAC GT Masters, driver MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF #48: “Sadly, after the pit stop on Saturday, I rejoined the race in third place and I wasn’t able to attack. When the gap got bigger, I concentrated on keeping the position and score valuable points for the championship. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything more in store.”
