• Race 2: victory by #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3, third place for starting number 88
• Race 1: four Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the top ten
• Victory in Silver Cup in race 2 by #87 Mercedes-AMG GT3 
• A pair of second places in the Pro-Am class for the Baumann/Pierburg duo

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport has got the Sprint Cup season in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS off to a successful start. Maro Engel (GER) and Luca Stolz (GER) won the second race of the weekend at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours with the #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT. Raffaele Marciello (ITA) and Timur Boguslavskiy (RUS) finished in third place with the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP. As a result, Marciello moved up into the lead of the drivers’ standings in the series. Moreover, the #87 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the AKKA ASP Team secured the Silver Cup class win in fifth place overall while #20 SPS automotive performance repeated its second place in the Pro-Am class from the previous day. In the first race on Saturday, the Customer Racing Teams already convinced with a strong team achievement and podium results in the classes.

In extremely windy conditions, the second sprint race of the weekend at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours took place on Sunday afternoon. In qualifying on Sunday morning, Maro Engel (GER) had secured an outstanding grid position for Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT by claiming pole position. At the start of the one-hour race, Engel immediately pulled away from his rivals and held on to the leading position until the driver change to teammate Luca Stolz (GER). Raffaele Marciello (ITA) started the race from fifth place with the second Performance car from the Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP and made the mandatory pit stop very late compared to the opposition. As a result, he succeeded in gaining decisive seconds. His teammate Timur Boguslavskiy (RUS) benefited and left the pits to rejoin the race in second place. In the second half of the race, marked by several yellow flag situations, the two Mercedes-AMG GT3s defended first and second place against the strong competition for a long time. After 33 laps, Stolz was first across the finish line while Boguslavskiy lost one place against a rival just before the end, but still brought the double podium finish home in third place. Fifth place and victory in the Silver Cup that came with it was the result for Konstantin Tereschenko (RUS) and Jim Pla (FRA) in the AKKA ASP Team’s sister car with starting number 87. In the SPS automotive performance entry with starting number 20, Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Valentin Pierburg (GER) rounded out the successful day for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport at the French circuit with second place in the Pro-Am class.

Race 1: four Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the top 10
In the opening race on Saturday, the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams already showed a convincing team performance. In the night race at the 4.411 kilometres long track, four cars from Affalterbach finished in the top ten. The best-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 was the Madpanda Motorsport car with starting number 90 in fourth place with drivers Ezequiel Pérez Companc (ARG) and Rik Breukers (NED). Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP ended up in fifth place in the race on Saturday. Raffaele Marciello took over the #88 from Timur Boguslavskiy halfway through the race and then gradually worked his way up from ninth place. The Toksport WRT car with starting number 7 and driver pairing Juuso Puhakka (FIN) and Oscar Tunjo (COL) finished seventh overall, equalling third place in the Silver Cup, securing a double podium finish in this class. Petru Razvan Umbrarescu (ROM) and Jules Gounon (FRA) of AKKA ASP Team rounded out the quartet in the top ten. The duo of Maro Engel and Luca Stolz with the second Performance car of Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT had bad luck in this race. Having started from sixth on the grid, a failure brought the car with starting number 6 to a halt after 29 laps while running in fourth place and in contention for a podium finish.

In the Saturday race, Valentin Pierburg (GER) and Dominik Baumann (AUT) had already secured second place in the Pro-Am class with the #20 SPS automotive performance Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Following the first two events of the GT World Challenge Europe, Raffaele Marciello is leading the drivers’ standings prior to the next round at Circuit Paul Ricard. From 28^th-30^th May, the 1,000-kilometre race of the Endurance Cup will be held at that venue.

Maro Engel, #6 Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT: “I had a good start and I was able to pull a slight gap early on. After that, it was a really good stint. Then, Luca seamlessly continued and was able to bring first place home with a perfect performance. Victory is a nice way to make up for our retirement from yesterday. The entire team has shown a great competitive spirit. Many thanks to all!”

Luca Stolz, #6 Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT: “Today, Maro put in a great qualifying lap to put us on pole position. In the race, everything was going perfectly for us, too, even though the restarts weren’t easy with degrading tyres. The crew also did a super job during the pit stop. A great victory!”

Raffaele Marciello, #88 Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP: “I had a good start and we were able to make up some positions during the pit stop, too. It is a bit sad that we still lost second place just before the end, but at the end of the day, it is a super result over the entire weekend with valuable points for the championship.”