Tales from the paddock: Return to the Nürburgring

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

Just two weeks after staging the 24-hour endurance classic, the

Nürburgring hosts another standout race – the F1 Eifel Grand Prix.

• This is what happened: Results and facts
• News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
• Social media news: What’s new online?

This is what happened: Results and facts

• ADAC GT Masters: #marvindienst and #philippfrommenwiler win Saturday's race at the Sachsenring
• ADAC GT4 Germany: Two victories and a P2 for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the two races at the Sachsenring
• British GT Championship: #samdehaan and #patrickkujala on the podium at

Snetterton

• Super GT: Third place for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at the Fuji Speedway 

News snippets  

Eifel, here we come: Formula One is back! This coming weekend, the premier class of motor #racing will be hosted by the Nürburgring for the 41st time overall, although the fixture has been absent from the F1 itinerary since the 2013 season. The race has been staged with a variety of titles since it first featured on the Formula One calendar in 1951: the German Grand Prix, the European Grand Prix and twice even as the Luxembourg Grand Prix! The Eifel Grand Prix is about to make its debut. However, the history of the Nürburgring goes back much further than the Formula One World Championship and is inextricably bound up with the three-pointed star. The birth of the Silver Arrows took place on 3 June 1934 in the International Eifel Race at the Nürburgring. Manfred von Brauchitsch in his Mercedes-Benz W 25 entered the history books as the first Silver Arrows winner, clocking an average speed of 122.5 km/h. Since the inauguration of F1, the Eifel has not exactly been a happy hunting ground for Mercedes: the only victory for a works team was achieved by the unforgettable Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1954 season on the legendary Nordschleife. Since then, contestants powered by Mercedes engines have won on three further occasions on the Grand Prix circuit: Mika Häkkinen (1998), Fernando Alonso (2007) and Lewis Hamilton (2011).  

Victory, pole position and podium finish in the #adacgtmasters at the Sachsenring: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport registered its first double podium of the current #adacgtmasters season at the Sachsenring. In the first of two races held last weekend, #marvindienst (GER) and #philippfrommenwiler (SUI) driving the number 36 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of DLV Team Schütz Motorsport were outright winners, while Maro Engel and Luca Stolz (both GER) in the number 22 of Toksport WRT finished third. For Dienst and Frommenwiler, who had started the race from pole position, it was their first victory in this year’s Super Sports Car League. Also contributing to a successful afternoon were Dorian

Boccolacci (FRA) and Mick Wishofer (AUT) who finished fifth in the number 20 Mercedes of Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil #racing. Philip Ellis (GBR) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) in the number 48 KNAUS Team HTP-WINWARD likewise finished fifth in the second race on Sunday as best-placed of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 contingent. The driver pairing of the number 22 Toksport WRT suffered a major blow to their title aspirations on Sunday, going off the track due to a technical defect and having to retire from the race when they were not only leading the field but also the championship. Stolz and Engel are currently third in the overall standings on 97 points and are still in contention for the championship, with six races still to be contested. 

One-two win and championship lead for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in the ADAC

GT4 Germany: Sharing the billing on the Sachsenring weekend was the 2020 ADAC GT4 Germany. It was a gratifying third round of the competition for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.

In an exciting battle for the win in Saturday’s one-hour race, Jan Marschalkowski and Hendrik Still (both GER) in the number 14 car of series debutants Team Zakspeed beat fellow Mercedes drivers Julien Apothéloz (SUI) and Luca-Sandro Trefz (GER) in the number 48 MANN-FILTER Team HTP-WINWARD to make it a one-two for the Mercedes-AMG GT4.

In the second race, Apothéloz and Trefz made it two victories out of two, and their impressive debut performance is also reflected in the general classification, where they have taken a ten-point lead. MANN-FILTER Team HTP-WINWARD also lead the team classification.  

Top Five finishes and class victory in the Intercontinental GT Challenge: Colin Braun, Ben Keating and George Kurtz (all USA) in the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by DXDT #racing won the Pro-Am class in the eight-hour race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The trio had started the second #event of this year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli (IGTC) from twelfth on the grid, advancing to finish fifth overall. The SunEnergy1 #racing crew of Mikaël Grenier (CAN), Kenny Habul (AUS) and Martin Konrad (AUT) in the number 75 meanwhile finished third in the Pro-Am category, also posting the fastest race lap in their class. As the scoring also counted towards the GT World Challenge America, Colin Braun and George Kurtz had double cause for celebration: their lead in the Pro-Am class at the three-hour mark gave them class victory in the GTWC America. In this particular competition, Braun and Kurtz were runners-up in the overall standings.  

The GT4 America Sprint season finale also took place at the same venue. Jeff Courtney in the number 99 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of RecStuff #racing produced the best result for an Affalterbach-built car with a P3 in the Am class in Friday’s race. Courtney finished the season sixth in the Am class, while RecStuff #racing were fifth in the team standings. 

Successes for Mercedes-AMG in Britain, Italy, France and Sweden:

RAM #racing posted two class victories at Snetterton Motor #racing Circuit in the #britishgtchampionship. Yelmer Buurman (NED) and Ian Loggie (GBR) sharing the cockpit of the number 6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took first place in the Pro-Am class in the first race of the weekend. Their team-mates #samdehaan (GBR) and #patrickkujala (FIN) came out on top in the Silver Cup in the second race and also finished third overall. The duo head for the season finale at Silverstone first in the GT3 Silver Cup as well as in the overall standings. In the team championship, RAM #racing are currently placed second. 

Elsewhere on Sunday, Lorenzo Ferrari and Loris Spinelli (both ITA) of AKM Motorsport (#27) were winning the 50-minute sprint race of the Italian GT Championship at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello. As a result, Lorenzo Ferrari moves up to second place in the overall sprint classification. Andrea Belicchi and Jodi Vullo (both ITA) in the number 288 Scuderia Villorba Corse took class victory in the GT4 Pro-Am category on Saturday.  

CD Sport and AKKA ASP Team can also look back on a successful weekend in the GT4 France series. Over the course of the three races, Edouard Cauhaupé and Fabian Lavergne (both FRA, CD Sport) in the number 2 Mercedes-AMG GT4 took the race win twice, while Thomas Drouet and Paul Petit (both FRA) in the number 88 of AKAA ASP made no fewer than three podium appearances for a P2 and two P3s. They also won the Silver Cup classification in the second race.  

Meanwhile in the GT4 Scandinavia, Team Eken Motorsports were celebrating a podium finish: Fredrik Danner and Alexander Graff (both SWE) driving the number 71 MercedesAMG GT4 were third in the second race.  

Top Three finishes for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in Japan and New Zealand: In the fifth round of the Super GT, Naoya Gamou and Togo Suganami (both JPN) were rewarded with a podium for their strong performance at the Fuji Speedway. After 62 laps, the LEON #racing duo in the number 65 finished third, which was enough for them to retain the top spot in the drivers’ championship by a margin of nine points. Leon #racing head in the team standings by the same score. 

Last but not least, the second round of the South Island Endurance Series was contested at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park last weekend. Dwayne Carter and Greg Murphy (both NZL) in the number 19 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by Carter’s Motorsport finished second overall.