- Maro Engel drives from 19th to second place in Saturday's rainy race
- Mercedes-AMG drivers secure seven out of eight possible points finishes
- ADAC GT4 Germany: Victory and podium success for Mercedes-AMG Customer Teams
The Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams scored seven points finishes and one podium success on the second DTM race weekend of 2024 at the 3.478-kilometre DEKRA Lausitzring. All four Mercedes-AMG GT3s finished in the Top 10 on Saturday. Maro Engel (GER) and Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD made up the most positions this weekend. In Saturday's race, Engel made up a total of eleven places and claimed second place. On Sunday, the 38-year-old started from the back of the field in the #130 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and took P7.
Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD makes the right strategy decisions in chaotic rain race
Characterised by heavy rainfall and the resulting tyre poker, Saturday's race will be particularly memorable. When it started to rain five minutes after the start, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD and at this time 19th-placed Maro Engel were among the quickest to react. The early change to wet tyres brought the Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador up to second position in his 95th DTM race, before the race had to be interrupted twice due to the high risk of aquaplaning. Maro Engel maintained this position even after the two safety car restarts and the mandatory pit stop. His team-mate Lucas Auer (AUT), who was in poor health, started the race from eighth position and also benefited from the right strategy decision and a quick pit stop. He saw the chequered flag in fourth place. With the two Mercedes-AMG Team HRT drivers Arjun Maini (IND) in seventh and Luca Stolz (GER) in tenth, all four Mercedes-AMG GT3s finished in the top ten despite the challenging conditions. Arjun Maini, who had started the race from P5 in the grid, lost places during a less than optimal stop. Luca Stolz was handed a penalty lap for spinning tyres. Thanks to his second podium of the season, Maro Engel climbed to shared first place in the drivers' standings for one night together with Kelvin van der Linde (RSA/Team ABT Sportsline) with 43 championship points.
A late stop puts #130 Mercedes-AMG GT3 well ahead again in Sunday's race
In dry conditions on Sunday, the Lausitzring yet again proved to be a track that offers few overtaking opportunities. Once again, Maro Engel, who started the race from 20th place due to last-minute changes to the car, benefited from the right timing at the stop. He was one of the last to head for the pits in the #130 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and moved up to eighth position, which he successfully defended despite cold tyres. He subsequently worked his way up to seventh place. Lucas Auer finished tenth in the #22 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER car, while Arjun Maini ended Sunday's race in twelfth place. The three drivers thus continued their streak and finished in the points for the fourth race in a row. Luca Stolz had to retire the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 early due to a collision that was not his fault.
In the overall standings, Mercedes-AMG remains within striking distance of the leaders after the second of eight race weekends. Maro Engel is in fourth place in the drivers' championship with 52 points. Mercedes-AMG Team HRT is third in the team standings with 73 points. In the manufacturers' competition, Mercedes-AMG is eight points behind in second place.
The protagonists do not have much time to recover after the eventful races. All four DTM drivers will be competing for Mercedes-AMG in the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring next weekend. The following week, on 8th and 9th June, the fifth and sixth rounds of the DTM season will take place at Circuit Zandvoort. Last year, Maro Engel took his first DTM victory in the GT3 era on the Dutch dune circuit, clinching pole position and setting the fastest lap of the race.
>> Results DTM Lausitzring
>> DTM Media Guide 2024 (Update during Monday, 27 May)
ADAC GT4 Germany: Marc de Fulgencio and Enzo Joulié win Sunday's race
The Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams celebrated a podium finish on Saturday and a victory on Sunday in the ADAC GT4 Germany support programme. In the first race, Alexander Connor (UAE) and Jan-Philipp Springob (GER) finished third in the #85 Mercedes-AMG GT4 entered by Datalab Sports with CV Performance Group. On Sunday, Marc de Fulgencio (ESP) and Enzo Joulié (FRA) from BWT Mücke Motorsport secured victory in the one-hour race from second on the grid. Marc de Fulgencio also completed the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1m 29.340s.
Race Facts, DTM at Lausitzring
2nd DTM podium of the season for Maro Engel
10th DTM podium for Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD in 52 races
17th DTM podium for Mercedes-AMG at the Lausitzring in 33 races
50th DTM appearance for Arjun Maini in Sunday's race
419th DTM podium for Mercedes-AMG/Mercedes-Benz in 518 races
Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD completed the two fastest stops on Saturday (6.6 seconds each)
Maro Engel made up a total of 24 places compared to his starting positions in both races
Mercedes-AMG remains DTM record winner at the Lausitzring with 17 victories in 33 races
„There were two exciting races with a lot of confusion on Saturday. Maro turned a difficult starting position into excellent results on both days. But the other drivers also achieved important results. If you take a look at the resulting points, we can be satisfied. Overall, however, we had hoped for a little more at the Lausitzring and are surprised by the strong performance of the competition. We now need to analyse this in order to be competitive in Zandvoort with all cars in all conditions. Congratulations to Marc de Fulgencio, Enzo Joulié and the entire Mücke Motorsport team on their race win in the ADAC GT4 Germany.”
Thomas Jäger, Sporting Director DTM
„The fact that we came from so far back on Saturday to finish on the podium is fantastic. My thanks go to my race engineer Mauricio Moreira, who brought me into the pits at the right moment, and to my crew, who put in a super stop. That and our good performance in the rain were the key to our podium finish. All in all, the podium and seventh place today were good points. Unfortunately, we weren't quite where we wanted to be in terms of pace today in the dry. Thanks to another good strategy, it was still enough to finish in the top 10.”
Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD #130
„It was a mixed weekend. We had good pace on Saturday, the potential was definitely there. Unfortunately, I lost some time at the pit stop, which is very unusual for our team. Nevertheless, we scored good points. Sunday was very challenging. I would obviously have liked to finish my 50th DTM race further up the field or even on the podium, but these are solid points and overall it was a promising start to the season.”
Arjun Maini, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #36
„ My health was really not good, and it didn't really get any better over the course of the weekend. But with the adrenalin in the race, I was able to pull it off. We were lucky with the rain on Saturday, which allowed us to make good progress. Unfortunately, we weren't as competitive today as we would have liked. That's why we tried an undercut, which unfortunately didn't have the desired effect. It's a shame that we don't always race in the rain, as the conditions somehow suit me.”
Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #22
„That was a difficult weekend for us. We didn't have a good qualifying on Saturday, but at least we scored points in the race. On Sunday, we were a little better in qualifying with tenth place, but that's still not where we want to be. In general, a lot of things came together and that's why the whole weekend was challenging. The retirement in the second race through no fault of our own was disappointing, but unfortunately that's part and parcel of motorsport.”
Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #4
