• Customer Racing end-of-season celebration concludes successful customer sports season
• Emotional farewell for Maximilian Buhk during the gala 
• Prize-giving ceremony of the brand-internal Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Championship

The 2022 motorsport season isn’t over yet, but already now, the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing programme can look back upon a year full of sporting success. Mercedes-AMG celebrated the outstanding victories in endurance racing and the numerous championship titles together with co-operation partners, drivers and customer racing teams during the “Night of the Stars” on Saturday. During the end-of-season celebration at the W Hotel in Barcelona, the winners of the brand-internal Customer Racing Championship traditionally were honoured with exclusive prizes while the course for the future was set as well. This also included the farewell from active motorsport by Maximilian Buhk (GER).

Together with the teams, drivers and co-operation partners from the customer sports programme, Mercedes-AMG traditionally celebrated the conclusion of the motorsport season last weekend. The Customer Racing end-of-season celebration, known as “Night of the Stars”, having had to be converted to a virtual format last year due to travel restrictions that were in place, the gala could be held as an event with physical attendance again in 2022. Accordingly, numerous guests used the opportunity to conclude the season together at the W Hotel in Barcelona.

At this occasion, Maximilian Buhk, a member of the Mercedes-AMG family for many years, was given an official send-off. The 29-year-old had been part of the customer sports driver line-up since 2016 without interruption and next to the Blancpain GT Series drivers’ and teams’ titles also secured podium results in international endurance races on a regular basis. In 2013 already, he became the youngest-ever overall winner of the legendary Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race together with HTP Motorsport. Most recently, he raced in DTM with Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport.

Winners of the brand-internal championship announced
The announcement of the winners of the brand-internal Customer Racing Championship again was the highlight of the evening event, lasting several hours, in 2022. For eight years, Mercedes-AMG has been awarding the most successful teams and drivers of its customer sports programme with a high-quality trophy and exclusive prizes from its partners. In this way, the performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach expresses its appreciation for the exemplary representation of its cars in the most varied race series all over the world.

The competition is divided in eight categories: PRO-DRIVER, DRIVER GT3, PRO-DRIVER GT3, DRIVER GT4, PRO-DRIVER GT4, TEAMS GT3 and TEAMS GT4. In the classification, all customer teams and drivers of full age are included who have competed in races with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, GT4 or SLS AMG GT3 in the past competition period (3^rd November 2021 – 4^th October 2022). Customer teams with extended works support, so-called Performance Teams, are excluded from participation, just like the Performance drivers supported by Mercedes-AMG.

The final classification depends on multiple factors. In every race, points are attributed according to the 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 format that is common in motorsport. In the process, the results of the GT3 and GT4 cars are considered and scored separately. Depending on the level and the distance of the race event, the points scored are being multiplied by a pre-determined factor in the final step to allow for a fair competition.

The prize winners of the 2022 Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Championship
In the classification of the PRO-DRIVER category, drivers were included who, according to the ranking by the world motoring federation FIA, have FIA platinum, gold or silver status. After his victory in the previous year, Jim Pla (FRA) again managed to come out on top in this classification. With his successful participations in GT World Challenge Europe and various GT4 series, he kept the brand-internal opposition at bay and as a prize, he received a Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E PERFORMANCE (combined fuel consumption: 10.8 l/100 km | combined CO₂ emission: 247 g/km*). At the same time, the Frenchman also claimed victory in the PRO-DRIVER GT4 category for which he received racing apparel from partner Puma.

Having won the British GT Championship drivers’ title, Ian Loggie (GBR) also secured top honors in the DRIVER and der DRIVER GT3 standings. Like Jim Pla, the Scot receives a Mercedes-AMG C 63 S E PERFORMANCE for first place in the DRIVER standings. Moreover, his victory in DRIVER GT3 earns him a Santoni for AMG leather large weekend bag. Russell Ward (USA) was presented with the same prize, primarily having raced in GT series in the US and being classified first in the PRO-DRIVER GT3 standings. With convincing performances in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, Kris Wilson (USA) claimed the top position in the DRIVER GT4 standings and received, like Jim Pla, racing apparel from co-operation partner Puma as a reward.

Thanks to an extensive programme with race participations in GT World Challenge Europe, Intercontinental GT Challenge and International GT Open, SPS automotive performance has won the TEAM GT3 classification. The best team in the GT4 segment was Auto Sport Promotion that raced, among others, in GT4 European Series and GT4 France under the AKKODIS ASP Team banner. For their outstanding achievements in the competition period that has now ended, both teams receive 40,000 Euros of prize money.

Christoph Sagemüller, head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport: “The Customer Racing end-of-season celebration is a highlight in our customer sports programme every year. We are very happy that, after a two-year break, we were finally able to welcome numerous members of the Mercedes-AMG family live and to celebrate together with them. There were plenty of reasons to celebrate this year as our teams and drivers have achieved outstanding race and title wins. And it is fascinating to see how the AMG Motorsport family grows year after year. Without any doubt, this proves that we offer a very attractive and convincing package in international competition with our Customer Racing programme. I would like to extend my thanks to all our teams and drivers from all over the world who thrilled by means of their outstanding commitment with great motorsport throughout the season and represented the AMG brand in a perfect way. And sincere thanks also to our loyal partners who are reliably accompanying us and who, with exclusive prizes for the winners of the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Championship, have also made our end-of-season celebration a unique experience.”

Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “In sporting terms, 2022 was a particularly successful season. Therefore, it is even more beautiful to be able to celebrate these achievements together with our drivers, teams and co-operation partners. Every single one can be incredibly proud of his performance. That is why we were really happy that we were able to appropriately honour the great efforts by our customer sports teams and drivers with the prize-giving in our brand-internal championship. Thanks to our partners who have made this prize-giving ceremony possible and who remain loyal to us in the upcoming season as well. With Maximilian, we have lost a staple on the drivers’ side, but together, we have achieved a lot and I wish him all the best, also away from active motorsport.”

About BWT
Mercedes-AMG and the international water technology company BWT have enjoyed numerous achievements in the first years of their partnership right away. For instance, Maximilian Götz, from Mercedes-AMG Team HRT, was crowned DTM champion in 2021 in BWT colours. In the 2022 Nürburgring 24-hour race, Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed ensured that the podium also shone in BWT pink with second and third place. For the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Championship, the company supplied four vouchers for either a BWT AQA Drink pro 20 or a BWT D300 pool robot. This year, the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Night of the Stars was BWT Bottle Free Zone for the first time. With innovative, patented BWT technologies, it is possible to filter local water and at the same time enrich it with valuable minerals and trace elements such as magnesium, zinc and silicate. This means that fresh, great-tasting water comes straight from the tap without the need for transport or the use of millions of disposable plastic bottles. The concept supports BWT in its mission to make the world a better place, sip by sip.

About Cube Controls
The Italian company ranks among the leading steering wheel suppliers in the sim racing segment. Cube Controls pays particular attention to ensure that manufacturing, inspection and packaging of the products are all done manually. That also shows in the high-quality sim racing steering wheel in exclusive AMG design that Cube Controls made available for the winners in two categories.

About IWC Schaffhausen
For over 150 years, IWC Schaffhausen has developed mechanical time pieces following the traditional approach of founder F.A. Jones. Combining the highest level of craftsmanship and technology, he created pocket watches that lasted for generations. The long-standing co-operation between the Swiss luxury watch manufacture and Mercedes-AMG is based on shared values like the passion for performance and design and the strive for top-notch technical achievements. The latest result of the partnership is the IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph Edition "AMG". It is presented to drivers Martin Konrad (AUT) and Russell Ward (USA) for their second places in the AMG Customer Racing Championship.

About Puma
For the German sports apparel manufacturer and Mercedes-AMG, an exciting and successful second year of the joint partnership is coming to an end. A year in which Mercedes-AMG Team AKKODIS ASP managed to win the Spa 24-hour race with the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in Puma livery. Puma is not only known as a lifestyle brand worldwide, but also produces quality apparel for motorsport. Repeatedly, drivers are excited by the enormous wearing comfort that Puma racing underwear, shoes or overalls provide. For the prize-giving ceremony, the manufacturer from Herzogenaurach provided two full sets of racing apparel and two Puma Lifestyle sets.

About Santoni
Meanwhile, history of the cooperation between exclusive Italian label Santoni and Mercedes-AMG dates back to the year 2005. Like the performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach, Santoni stands for luxury, design and perfect craftsmanship. This is also reflected by the specially designed Santoni for AMG Collection. Therefore, the long-standing partner supported the AMG Customer Racing Championship with the Santoni for AMG leather large weekend bag from this collection.

About SIMPLON
For the Austrian premium brand from Hard at Lake Constance, it was the first year as a Mercedes-AMG partner. On its website, the manufacturer of hand-made high-performance bikes offers over 100,000 possibilities for configuration of a new bicycle fully according to one’s own wishes and imaginations. Two of the undisputed top-level products from the SIMPLON manufacture are also part of the non-cash prizes for the brand-internal championship.

* The stated figures are the measured NEDC CO2 values according to Art. 2 No. 1 Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1153. The fuel consumption figures were calculated based on these figures. A higher value may be applied as a basis for calculating vehicle tax. Further information about the cars offered including WLTP values can be found specific for your country at www.mercedes-benz.com.