• Arjun Maini and Mercedes-AMG Team HRT finish third in Saturday's race
• Third podium on the third race weekend for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the 2024 DTM
• Second win of the season for Tom Kalender and Elias Seppänen in the ADAC GT Masters

Mercedes-AMG once again secured important points for the championship at the third round of the DTM 2024 in the Netherlands. At Circuit Zandvoort, Arjun Maini (IND) continued this season’s run of podium finishes. The Mercedes-AMG Team HRT driver finished third in Saturday's race. Maro Engel (GER) had already been on the podium for Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD in Oschersleben as well as at the Lausitzring. With seven out of eight possible points-scoring results by the Mercedes-AMG Performance drivers at Zandvoort, Mercedes-AMG took first place in the DTM manufacturers' standings.

Second DTM podium for Arjun Maini
In qualifying on Saturday morning, the AMG Customer Racing Teams ensured a promising starting position with three cars inside the Top 10. Arjun Maini secured the best grid position. The Indian confirmed his impressive form with third place on the grid in the field of 20 DTM drivers. In the race, he maintained this position over the entire distance of 39 laps and made it onto the podium. It was Maini's second rostrum in the DTM after his second place in Saturday's race at the Norisring in 2021. Lucas Auer (AUT) and Luca Stolz (GER) rounded off the result for Mercedes-AMG in fifth and tenth place respectively. Maro Engel put in another determined recovery from 18th on the grid to finish eleventh.

Two Top 10 results in an eventful Sunday race
Due to a clash of dates with the prologue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, qualifying for Sunday's race took place on Friday evening. Led by Maini in fifth place on the grid, three AMG Performance Drivers also finished in the top half of the grid in the first qualifying session of the weekend. In the race, Stolz, who started from eighth on the grid, was the best-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 in fifth position. During the pit stop on lap 14, the HRT driver was inadvertently blocked by a competitor and lost valuable time, which prevented an even better result. Teammate Maini once again finished in the Top 10 in sixth place, while Maro Engel held on to ninth place until the closing stages. However, he lost this position in hard-fought duels and crossed the finish line in 13th place. Lucas Auer was involved in a collision on the opening lap through no fault of his own, which resulted in damage to his Mercedes-AMG GT3. Sunday's race was thus prematurely over for the Austrian.

Mercedes-AMG maintains championship lead in the ADAC GT Masters
Mercedes-AMG also continued their successful streak on the second race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters. In Saturday's race at the 4.259 kilometre Circuit Zandvoort, Tom Kalender (GER) and Elias Seppänen (FIN) celebrated their second victory in succession in the Mercedes-AMG GT3. The Finn took pole position for the LANDGRAF Motorsport duo in the first qualifying session. The reigning ADAC GT Masters champion then was in control of the first race from the start. He defended the lead during his stint and set the fastest lap of the race. After the driver change, Kalender drove to an unchallenged triumph for LANDGRAF Motorsport. In Sunday's race, Salman Owega and Mercedes-AMG Junior Driver David Schumacher (both GER) made it onto the podium. The driver pairing from the Haupt Racing Team finished third. The Haupt Racing Team is still in first place in the team standings after Zandvoort. Kalender and Seppänen continue to lead the drivers' standings.

Race Facts, DTM in Zandvoort
- 2nd DTM podium for Arjun Maini
- 420th DTM podium for Mercedes-AMG
- 24th Zandvoort podium in the DTM out of 26 starts for Mercedes-AMG
- Fastest pit stop by Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD in Saturday's race in 6.8 seconds
- Mercedes-AMG takes the lead in the manufacturers' standings with 154 points
 

>> Race result DTM Zandvoort
>> Race result ADAC GT Masters Zandvoort
>> DTM Media Guide 2024

"It wasn't a bad weekend. I was very happy about the podium on Saturday. The whole team did a fantastic job and it was nice to be able to reward them with such a result. I had to wait a while for this second podium. We were close to it at the start of the season, but now it's finally happened. Sunday was a bit more difficult. I lost a few positions at the start, but it was a lot of fun afterwards and we can be satisfied with this result. I'm already looking forward to the Norisring, which has been one of my favourite race tracks since my rookie year in the DTM."
Arjun Maini, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #36

"Overall, it was not an easy weekend. We're still lacking a bit of pace, especially in the race, and we need to get to the bottom of that. Nevertheless, it was a solid race on Sunday, although there was a bit of bad luck involved. A driver from another manufacturer stopped in the pit stall of my pit crew and we probably lost the chance of a podium finish as a result. We now have a slightly longer break in the DTM until the Norisring, during which we want to continue to improve so that we can finally compete for the top positions again."
Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #4

"Saturday was definitely damage limitation from our grid position - also looking at the championship, as our direct competitors didn't have a good day either. The second race was turbulent. I got squeezed at the start, then Lucas had the problem and I had to avoid him. I caught Clemens Schmid, who was in my blind spot. After that it was a clean race until the last lap. Things got wild again and I was pushed off the track in the penultimate corner. As a result, I lost momentum and lost even more positions. After this weekend, we need to understand where we are still lacking in qualifying. Zandvoort is a track that suits me well and our pace just wasn't there. We definitely need to analyse that and come back stronger."
Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD #130

"The first race went well. We had an optimal strategy and a clean pit stop. I was mostly driving on my own on the track and the gaps to the front and back were relatively large. We got the maximum out of the race with fifth place. Unfortunately, it was a short race for me on Sunday. Someone hit the back of my car after the start. The suspension broke and the tyre was destroyed. That was the end of it for me."
Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #22

"It was a perfect Saturday with pole, the fastest lap and the race win. The start was perfect and then I picked up the pace to pull a gap. When it started to drizzle briefly towards the halfway mark of the race, it made things exciting again. But we had an optimal setup in all conditions. We didn't race here last year, but the team had experience and we were able to build on that. In the second race, we made the most of our starting position and scored maximum points. We want to keep working like this."
Elias Seppänen, LANDGRAF Motorsport #1

"It was a good feeling to finally be on the podium. We're here to win and would obviously like to be further up the field. But we made too many mistakes this weekend for that. That's a bit of a shame because our pace was very good. In that respect, we are happy with the podium in the second race. Overtaking was difficult here and I was able to get us into the top three with a good restart. Standing on the podium and spraying the champagne definitely releases feelings of happiness."
David Schumacher, Haupt Racing Team #2