• A total of eleven race weekends remaining in the 2024 season 
• Title chances in the European overall and sprint championships
• GTWC in America, Asia, Australia and Europe: Stefan Wendl takes stock

For Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, the crucial stage of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS is coming up in the next weeks. In America, Asia, Australia and Europe, the Customer Racing Teams will be competing for the defence of the manufacturers' championship and for class success. Since the title was first awarded in 2019, Mercedes-AMG has always been victorious at the end of the year in the prestigious competition organised by the renowned SRO Motorsports Group. For the fifth year in a row, the performance and sports car brand has held the title for the most successful brand in the intercontinental GT World Challenge. This title must be defended.

The Customer Racing cars from Affalterbach are once again competing with great success in the GT World Challenge championships in the 2024 season. After 34 of the 52 individual classifications, Mercedes-AMG is in second place of the nine competing manufacturers with 13,107 points. The teams and drivers still have a total of eleven race weekends to go.

 "The performance in the international GT World Challenge is ultimately a very meaningful indicator of the strength of a Customer Racing programme. The fact that we have already won the title five times in a row is testimony to the success of our commitment. Our competitors have reinforced their programmes and have a strong global presence. At the moment, it looks like there will be at least a duel, if not a three-way fight for the manufacturers' title. The successes are there on all four continents and we are in a good position in the overall standings to once again bring the trophy to Affalterbach in 2024 with a little bit of luck in the closing stages of the season."
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing
 

>> Manufacturer standings intercontinental GT World Challenge

Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup
In the GT World Challenge Europe, Mercedes-AMG and Winward Racing are in second place in the overall standings, which consist of the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup. The two AMG Performance Drivers Lucas Auer (AUT) and Maro Engel (GER) are team-mates in the Sprint Cup for the first time this season. Three of a total of five race events have already been completed. With two victories and three further podiums, they are in second place in both the drivers' and team standings of the Sprint Cup, two and five and a half points behind the leaders respectively.

This year’s newly added AMG Customer Racing Team Boutsen VDS has already enjoyed success in the Sprint Cup. At the season opener at Brands Hatch, Mercedes-AMG Performance Drivers Maximilian Götz (GER) and Jules Gounon (AND) finished third overall at the first attempt, while their team-mates César Gazeau and Aurélien Panis (both FRA) clinched class victory in the SILVER Cup. The Belgian team is in third place in the class standings two weekends before the Sprint Cup final.

Stefan Wendl: "In the Sprint Cup, we are running line-ups with two PRO drivers per car for the first time. The teams have thus adapted to the competitive situation in the series. The result is that we are driving even more consistently at the front and achieving corresponding successes. The Sprint Cup title is definitely the goal and we are looking forward to the last two race weekends. In addition to the established teams and drivers, the young up-and-coming drivers are also doing an excellent job."

Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup 
Boutsen VDS also competes in the Endurance Cup. The team won the SILVER Cup at the third race of the season at the Nürburgring. Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER was also successful in the Eifel, finishing third overall. Alongside Lucas Auer and Daniel Morad (CAN), Maro Engel drove the fastest lap in both qualifying and the race. With a lap time of 1m 53.121s in the third part of qualifying, he set a new track record for GT3 cars on the Nürburgring GP circuit.

For Mercedes-AMG, third place at the Nürburgring was the second overall podium in the current Endurance Cup season. Jules Gounon, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz (both GER) had already finished third for Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed at the opening round in Le Castellet, France. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 has already claimed five victories in the individual classes. At the big highlight, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, the Customer Racing cars with the three-pointed star achieved three class victories in the GOLD, SILVER and PRO-AM classifications. There were also three more class podiums to celebrate. As the most successful manufacturer in the race, Mercedes-AMG was honoured with the prestigious "Coupe Du Roi".

In the SILVER Cup, Winward Racing and Boutsen VDS occupy the top two places in the team standings in both the Endurance Cup and the overall classification. In the individual rankings, the combination of fast amateurs and promising young talent makes the difference.

Stefan Wendl: "Our class successes confirm that we are competitive in all categories. The competition in the individual classifications is very close and we are basically always in the race for the podium. But it's not just about being fast, especially in the endurance competitions. It's about extracting the pace consistently and not making any mistakes. Our Customer Racing Teams and their drivers are able to deliver this very reliably, which emphasises the qualities of our Mercedes-AMG GT3 in this discipline. We will do everything we can in the Endurance Cup to make the difference in the final races and achieve the necessary successes to win the overall championship in Europe."
 

>> Overall standings GT World Challenge Europe

Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS
The season in the USA is already in the decisive phase. There is only one sprint weekend left on the calendar before the finale at the Indianapolis 8 Hour at the beginning of October. In addition to three class victories, Mercedes-AMG can look back on one overall victory in the current GT World Challenge America season. Jeff Burton (USA) and Philip Ellis (SUI) won for Regulator Racing at the Virginia International Raceway. Ellis scored his third pole position of the season at the event. He had previously achieved this at the season opener in Sonoma and at Sebring.

Stefan Wendl: "Philip's strong qualifying results show how well we have positioned ourselves in North America in recent years. He has now established himself as an expert for the US race tracks. With the necessary racing luck, we would have had a good chance of successfully defending our PRO-AM title."
 

>> Overall standings GT World Challenge America

Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS
There are still two race weekends to go in Asia before the season ends in September. With four pole positions, three by Triple Eight JMR and one by Climax Racing, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 has already achieved more first places on the grid this season than last year. In Suzuka, Japan, Jules Gounon and his team-mate Bihuang Zhou (CHN) recently celebrated an overall victory with Climax Racing. Last year, Mercedes-AMG won the overall and PRO-AM championships with Craft-Bamboo Racing and also took second place with Triple Eight JMR. In addition, Climax Racing celebrated the title in the GT3-AM class. However, defending the title is now out of reach after an unfortunate 2024 season. Next weekend, João Paulo de Oliveira (JPN) will complete the Craft-Bamboo Racing line-up at the races on the Okayama International Circuit in Japan. The two-time champion (2020, 2022) in the GT 300 class of the Super GT will share the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Cao Qi (CHN).

Stefan Wendl: "Although we are the manufacturer with the most pole positions this year, the races did not go as we had hoped due to incidents. With their performance, our Customer Racing Teams could certainly have been in contention for the title again. In the final phase of the season, we want to show everything we’ve got once more and are reinforcing our line-up already for Okayama with further high-calibre drivers."
 

>> Overall standings GT World Challenge Asia

Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS
In Australia, two Customer Racing Teams are in the race for the title in the AM classification of the Sprint Cup. Tigani Motorsport leads the class ahead of GWR Australia. In the PRO-AM category, Triple Eight Race Engineering and Tigani Motorsport in third and fourth place also still have a chance of winning the title. With Declan Fraser and Peter Hackett (both AUS), Triple Eight Race Engineering has already celebrated an overall victory on the third race weekend at The Bend. Down Under, there are still three events to go before the title is decided.

Stefan Wendl: "With Triple Eight Race Engineering, we’ve been having a reliably successful and fast Customer Racing Team in Australia for years. This can be seen again this season with consistent great results. The fact that we are also so strongly represented in the AM classification with Tigani Motorsport fills us with pride and proves that the advantages of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 are appreciated worldwide."
 

>> Overall standings GT World Challenge Australia

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup
23 - 25 August, Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France
11 - 13 October, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup
20 - 22 September, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy
28 - 30 November, Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Saudi Arabia

GT World Challenge America
6 - 8 September, Barber Motorsports Park, USA
3 - 6 October, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, USA

GT World Challenge Asia
23 - 25 August, Okayama International Circuit, Japan
13 - 15 September, Shanghai International Circuit, China

GT World Challenge Australia
23 - 25 August, Phillip Island Circuit, Australia
18 - 20 October, Sydney Motorsport Park, Australia
8 - 10 November, Mount Panorama Circuit, Australia

Worldwide successes for the Mercedes-AMG GT2 and the Mercedes-AMG GT4
The Mercedes-AMG GT2 also has title chances in the Fanatec GT2 European Series. AKKODIS ASP Team is in first place in the AM team standings ahead of the final two rounds of the series in Monza and Barcelona. The team's driver duo Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Gilles Vannelet (both FRA) also lead the AM drivers' standings. The two Frenchmen have achieved four class victories so far. They have won once at each of the four race weekends held. In the GT America Powered by AWS, Dan Knox (USA) celebrated two class victories for Lone Star Racing in his only appearance this season at Long Beach. 

The Mercedes-AMG GT4 has also celebrated various successes in the GT4 championships of the SRO Motorsport Group so far this season. In the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club, the NM Racing Team with Lluc Ibañez (ESP) and Alexandre Papadopulos (USA) took an overall victory in Misano. The outfit also claimed victory in the AM class at the Hockenheimring with Andy Cantu (USA) and Charles Dawson (GBR). The Mercedes-AMG GT4 further scored one overall and one class victory in the GT4 France. In the championship held as part of the Championnat de France FFSA GT, Olivier Jouffret and Eric Tremoulet (both FRA) won for Vic'Team at the round in Lédénon. Lluc Ibañez and Alexandre Papadopulos secured a Silver class victory for NM Racing Team. 

The Mercedes-AMG GT4 is just as successful overseas. In the GT4 Japan Cup, Takashi Toyoda (JPN) drove to two victories in the AM class for ABSSA MOTORSPORT at Sportsland Sugo. The Japanese driver is leading the standings ahead of the finale and, with a 36-point lead, has the best chance of winning the title. In the Pirelli GT4 America, JMF Motorsports and Renntech Motorsport achieved two overall podiums. Renntech Motorsport also took a PRO-AM class win in Sonoma with Michael Auriemma (USA) and Matheus Leist (BRA). There have already been ten class podiums in the Monochrome GT4 Australia, as well as an overall podium by Gomersall Motorsport on the race weekend at the Phillip Island Circuit.

Stefan Wendl: "The worldwide successes of the Mercedes-AMG GT2 and the Mercedes-AMG GT4 are further proof of the versatility of our Customer Racing programme. We also work with strong Customer Racing Teams in this area, some of which are successful with us on all platforms, from GT3 to GT4 and GT2. This demonstrates the enormous trust in our vehicles and our support, and that makes me very proud."