Press release
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january 18, 2017 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport
Tales from the paddock – Robert Wickens: “You literally overtake one or two cars every lap”
What an eventful week! A podium spot in the curtain-raiser 24-hour race in Dubai, a new Silver Arrows driver and a World Champion as ambassador. 2017 is finally underway...
- This is what happened: Weekend’s results & facts
- News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
- Facts & Figures: 24 Hours of Dubai
- Three questions for Robert Wickens
- Social media news: What’s new online?
This is what happened: Weekend’s results & facts
- 24H Dubai: Third place for BLACK FALCON in the first fixture of the season, the long-distance spectacular at the Dubai Autodrome.
News snippets
New job for the reigning World Champion: One day after the announcement of his successor, Nico Rosberg completed his first working day of the new year. The 2016 Formula One World Champion has taken on the role of team ambassador this year. On Tuesday, Nico attended his first engagement in this capacity in Geneva, where he and his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton appeared at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) on behalf of team partner IWC Schaffhausen.
The 2017 jigsaw puzzle: Monday of this week will go down as a momentous day in the history of Formula One. Three of the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle that is the driver line-up for 2017 were slotted in place. In addition to Felipe Massa’s comeback at Williams and the recruitment of Valtteri Bottas by the Silver Arrows, Mercedes Junior and 2015 DTM Champion Pascal Wehrlein was confirmed as one of the two Sauber drivers. Before Pascal embarks on his second season in F1, he has a date in Miami, namely the Race of Champions, in which he will be competing against fellow F1 stars Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button.
Dubai run: Mercedes-AMG have got their 2017 season off to a great start. In the twelfth running of the Hankook 24H Dubai (12th - 14th January), which is contested as part of the Creventic 24H Series, the number 3 Mercedes AMG GT3 entered by BLACK FALCON took third place, continuing the team’s record of success over recent years. From 2011 onwards, BLACK FALCON have consistently finished on the 24 Hours of Dubai podium. This includes three wins, one runner-up spot and three third places. The victory in 2012 was the first ever in a 24-hour race for a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 as part of the Mercedes-AMG Customer Sports programme.
Class victory: As holders of the A6 team and driver titles in the 24H Series, Hofor #racing managed to repeat their class victory of the previous year in the 24-hour race in Dubai. On that occasion, they were still using a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. This time, the Swiss outfit fielded a new Mercedes-AMG GT3 (start number 1) which came seventh in the general classification. Another AMG customer team, SPS automotive-performance, finished eighth at the Dubai Autodrome, well within the Top Ten, contributing to a highly successful result for the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Facts & Figures: 24 Hours of Dubai
- Happy hunting ground: Since 2011, BLACK FALCON have finished every 24-hour race in Dubai race on the podium.
- Fastest race lap: Yelmer Buurman (Mercedes-AMG GT3 3, BLACK FALCON) posted the fastest lap at the Dubai Autodrome with a time of 1:59.198 minutes.
- Leading laps: The BLACK FALCON Mercedes-AMG GT3 2 led the field from Lap 1 to 35 and from Lap 108 to 114 (42 laps in all).
- Pole position: Jeroen Bleekemolen (Mercedes-AMG GT3 2, BLACK FALCON) with a qualifying time of 1:57.705 minutes.
- Class victory: For the second year in succession, Hofor #racing lifted the A6-Am trophy in the 24 Hours of Dubai.
- Number of entrants: Of the 92 vehicles in the field, 65 made it to the finish line.
- Code 60 periods: There were a total of 22 occasions on which the cars were required to slow down to 60km/h.
- 17,924.68 kilometres: This was the aggregate distance covered by the seven Mercedes-AMG customer teams.
Three questions for Robert Wickens
How has your winter break gone so far? What have you been up to?
Robert Wickens: It’s gone very well so far. I’ve had an amazing amount of things to do since the last race in Hockenheim. I took part in a kart race in Las Vegas, helped Karli with her work and then flew back to Canada after the DTM tests. I spent Christmas and the New Year in Barbados – it was just fantastic. From there, I went straight to testing in Daytona, so there was quite a lot happening. Now I’m just off to a kart race in Homestead, Florida.
You competed in the Roar before Rolex 24. Could you tell us a bit more about your entry in the 24 Hours of Daytona...
Robert Wickens: I’m lining up this year with Starworks Motorsport in the LM PC class at the 24 Hours of Daytona. It’s gone very well so far. The car is demanding to drive, and I’m looking forward to my first 24-hour race. Hopefully, I’ll be able to take part in more races like this in the future. I would love to race the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Spa-Francorchamps or in Dubai even or in the 24 hours of Le Mans – it’s been a lifelong ambition of mine. That would be really great.
What are your expectations of your first 24-hours race?
Robert Wickens: Of course, I’ve no idea exactly what’s in store for me, as this will be my first 24-hour race, but I have already taken part in a 30-hour test session in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in Portimão, so I’ve got a rough idea what it’s like to contest a 24-hour event. The only difference was that there were no other cars on the track at the time. It was very different, though, with the Roar before Rolex 24, because there were 50 or 60 cars in the line-up, and Daytona is not a particularly big track. It’s going to be hectic, for sure. You’re constantly overtaking GT and GT LM cars in the LM PC. You literally overtake one or two cars every lap. I expect to win to be quite honest. Starworks Motorsport are a great team that won the LM PC Championship last year. Perhaps we can succeed in Daytona, and I can leave the track with a sparkling new watch.
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