• Race 1: second place for Maximilian Götz
• Race 2: three top ten results for the Mercedes-AMG customer teams
• Lucas Auer moves up into second place in the drivers’ standings

In the sixth race weekend of DTM at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams have racked up a podium success and three further top ten results. In the race on Saturday, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing’s Maximilian Götz (GER), the defending drivers’ champion, confirmed his good form and secured his first podium finish of the season by coming home in second place. One day later, his teammate Lucas Auer (AUT), Luca Stolz (GER) and Mikaël Grenier (CAN) finished in the top ten.

The legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium served as the venue for the sixth of the eight DTM race weekends. Due to the long high-speed sections of the track that is also known as the “Ardennes roller-coaster” and the subsequent increased fuel consumption, the duration of the two races was reduced to 50 minutes plus one lap each.

Race 1: Maximilian Götz confirms his good form with maiden DTM season podium
Saturday had started with a rainy qualifying. Lucas Auer was one of the best to cope with the conditions and secured a good starting grid position for the race by qualifying third as a result, closely followed by Maximilian Götz in P4. Maro Engel in P6 and David Schumacher (both GER) in P7 also convinced with good lap times, but were dropped on the grid for the race at hand due to infringements of the rules during the previous DTM weekend at Nürburgring.

At the start of the race, the racing line on track was largely dry, so that all drivers started with slick tyres. Both Lucas Auer and Maximilian Götz made a good start: the two Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD drivers were able to make up one position each on the opening lap already and thus placed themselves in the front-running group. Their fellow Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel even managed to overtake several opponents and slotted into P6.

Subsequently, the race leader and Lucas Auer pulled a few seconds clear from the rest of the field and staged a thrilling duel for the lead. As the Austrian came in for his mandatory pit stop towards the halfway point of the race, there were difficulties with a loose wheel nut. Auer initially drove on and made up for the time that was lost in an impressive way, but had to park his #22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 due to a puncture seven laps later. Just a little bit earlier, Maro Engel, who had moved up closer and closer to the front-running group by virtue of a strong performance, had suffered from a similar fate: following contact caused by an opponent, there was a puncture as well, putting an end to the race for the Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing driver.

Now, it was time to shine for Maximilian Götz: the reigning champion in the DTM drivers’ standings had stayed out on track for a long time and was one of the last drivers to come into the pits. By virtue of this strategy, he found himself in P2 after all the opponents had completed their mandatory stops. Later on in the race, Götz benefited from his still fresh tyres and put in several strong lap times including the fastest race lap of the day.

The 36-year-old stalwart put the race leader under pressure over and over again but wasn’t able to mount a decisive challenge anymore. As a result, Götz was able to celebrate a second-place finish after 50 minutes plus one lap, his first podium result of the current DTM season. David Schumacher was the second-best Mercedes-AMG driver: the Salzburg-born driver scored his best DTM race result to date by finishing eleventh.

Race 2: three Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the top ten
Sunday qualifying also started in difficult conditions: due to the track that initially was still wet, the 27 drivers were only able to post good lap times towards the end of the session. Among the Mercedes-AMG drivers, Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing’s Mikaël Grenier (CAN) secured himself the best grid position for the second race of the DTM weekend with the fourth-fastest time. His teammate Maro Engel and Maximilian Götz claimed fifth and sixth place on the grid respectively.

Lucas Auer, who started from eighth, got his race off to a good start in dry conditions at the 7.004 kilometres long track and was able to make up several positions on the opening lap already. The Austrian was now in fourth place and went on to attack the front-running group. As the pit stop window opened, he opted for an early stop and remained in fourth position, corrected for pit stops, in the second half of the race, within striking distance from the trio at the front. With Mikaël Grenier (P6), Maximilian Götz (P7), Maro Engel (P9) and Luca Stolz (P10), four further Mercedes-AMG GT3s were in the top ten at that point.

A few minutes before the end of the race, a full-course yellow bunched up the field and provided a chance for the Mercedes-AMG drivers, now in fourth to seventh place, to move up to a podium position. After the restart, however, there were multiple contacts, leading to various changes in the order in the middle and rear parts of the field. Eventually, Lucas Auer was the best-placed Mercedes-AMG driver to cross the finish line in P4 while Luca Stolz, who had started from 14^th place on the grid, finished right behind him in P5 after an impressive recovery drive. Mikaël Grenier (P6) secured a further top ten result for the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams.

DTM-Saison heading onto the home straight
There are two more race weekends on the schedule of the 2022 DTM season. The next two races will be held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, on 24^th and 25^th September, the season finale follows at Hockenheimring from 7^th till 9^th October. Lucas Auer remains the best-placed Mercedes-AMG driver in the drivers’ standings: having come to Spa third in the standings, he managed to move up one place in the championship and is in second place with a good perspective after twelve of 16 races.

Thomas Jäger, Sporting Director DTM: “Our customer teams have shown a good overall performance, even if it wasn’t enough to come out on top. We are very happy with the podium result for Maximilian Götz on Saturday and we made the best of today’s race. Lucas Auer even managed to move up into second place of the drivers’ standings, even though the gap to the leader is quite big. Now, we are concentrating on the final two events.”

Maximilian Götz, driver, #1 Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing: “Qualifying on Saturday was super and the pace in the race was good, too. Finally standing on the podium again and scoring valuable points was a dream. In spite of the success ballast, I was in a good position in the race on Sunday and I was able to make up some ground. Then, I noticed that something wasn’t right with a tyre and I had to come into the pits once more. Too bad because that was my race done. All in all, however, it was a good race weekend, apart from the final 15 minutes.”

Lucas Auer, driver, #22 Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD: “Saturday was a bitter day with the puncture. Today, unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get a good lap in during qualifying, but it went well in the race and I was able to quickly work my way up. At the end, I lacked some speed, fourth place was the maximum today.”

Luca Stolz, driver, #4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT: “It was a patched weekend, especially because of the qualifyings that didn’t go in an optimal way. Yesterday, I was having a hard time moving up due to the success ballast, that worked out better today. I was able to make up several places and eventually ended up fifth. A positive end, but still, we need to work on qualifying to be able to strike back again at Red Bull Ring.”

Mikaël Grenier, driver, #55 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing: “It was a good weekend for us, we already had a good pace on Friday. Sadly, qualifying on Saturday didn’t go well, so that I had to start from far behind. Then, it was difficult to move up. On Sunday, starting from a good grid position obviously helped. In the last races, there were highs and lows, so therefore fifth place is a good result and real progress for our team. Scoring points is always good.”