Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website A successful race weekend for Mercedes-AMG: AMG Performance Teams take victories at Nürburgring-Nordschleife and Motorsport Arena Oschersleben
april 19, 2016 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

A successful race weekend for Mercedes-AMG: AMG Performance Teams take victories at Nürburgring-Nordschleife and Motorsport Arena Oschersleben

  • AMG Team HTP Motorsport wins entertaining ADAC qualifying race 24h from HARIBO #racing Team AMG
  • AMG Team ZAKSPEED takes victory in ADAC GT Masters season opener
Nürburgring/Oschersleben (GER). The race weekend of 16 and 17 April, 2016 brought an impressive record of success for the AMG Performance Teams: both in the six-hour ADAC qualifying race 24h and in the ADAC GT Masters season opener, the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 was victorious. At the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, AMG-Team HTP Motorsport claimed victory from the HARIBO #racing Team-AMG car in second place. The other Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the field finished fifth (AMG-Team Black Falcon) and 16th(AMG-Team HTP Motorsport). At the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, AMG-Team ZAKSPEED took the first race win of the 2016 ADAC GT Masters season.A faultless performance allowed Maximilian Buhk, Christian Vietoris, Thomas Jäger (all GER) and Dominik Baumann (AUT) to win the ADAC qualifying race 24h with the AMG-Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 30. After 41 entertaining laps of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the quartet won from Uwe Alzen, Lance David Arnold, Maximilian Götz and Jan Seyffarth (all GER), the drivers of the HARIBO #racing Team-AMG with starting number 8. AMG-Team Black Falcon completed the success with fifth place for Bernd Schneider, Maro Engel, Manuel Metzger (all GER) and Adam Christodoulou (GBR) and 16thplace for the second AMG-Team HTP Motorsport entry with Christian Vietoris, Christian Hohenadel, Maximilian Buhk, Dominik Baumann (all GER). With half an hour remaining in the six-hour race, the second AMG-Team Black Falcon car with Hubert Haupt, Nico Bastian (both GER), Yelmer Buurman (NED) and Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA) had an accident at the Hohenrain chicane with a top ten finish in sight. The driver escaped unscathed. Together with the team, the accident will now be analysed and the car will be rebuilt.From the very beginning, all five AMG Performance Teams convinced with their high level of competitiveness. During the first hour, the changeable weather conditions in particular caused plenty of action that considerably mixed up the field. The HARIBO #racing Team-AMG’s car with starting number 8 was among the cars affected by the turmoil in the opening stages. Starting driver Uwe Alzen was tapped into a spin and had to work his way up from the back of the field. Driving the 29 AMG-Team HTP Motorsport entry, Christian Hohenadel lost even more time, having to pit following a collision at the start. Soon after that, he was able to rejoin the race.With sudden heavy downpours at part of the track, numerous top teams decided for a change to rain tyres. The five Mercedes-AMG GT3, however, remained on slicks, which proved to be the right strategy as the track dried out quickly, from which the AMG Performance Teams benefitted. Later, a high-class endurance race followed, during which the Mercedes-AMG GT3 30 with Buhk, Vietoris, Jäger and Baumann moved up further and further, having started from eighth place on the grid.In the second half of the race, a duel for the lead between the 8 (HARIBO #racing Team-AMG) and the 30 (AMG-Team HTP Motorsport) cars emerged. The lead changed several times in the process. The final scheduled pit stop for the HARIBO #racing Team-AMG just before the end of the race distance brought the decision as it allowed final driver Dominik Baumann to take the lead for the AMG-Team HTP Motorsport again. He went on to bring his margin home. Final driver Maximilian Götz completed the 1-2 for the AMG Performance Teams, 54 seconds down.Having started from fourth place on the grid, the 4 AMG-Team Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 also led the race, but dropped back following a problem. After that, Bernd Schneider, Maro Engel, Manuel Metzger and Adam Christodoulou showed entertaining progress as they made their way back up to fifth at the finish line. After the collision at the start, the 29 AMG-Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 also made good progress which eventually was rewarded with 16th place.With these results, all five competing Mercedes-AMG GT3 have secured their slots for the Top 30 qualifying in the Nürburgring 24h race.Thomas Jäger, AMG-Team HTP Motorsport: “The Mercedes-AMG GT3 handles very well and today, we have seen that our tyre strategy in the opening stages of the race was the right choice, too. That probably brought us the decisive advantage for victory today. We were able to rack up more mileage in preparation for the 24h race in May. All in all, it was a successful weekend.”Jan Seyffarth, HARIBO #racing Team-AMG: “Unfortunately, we had some bad luck with our spin in the opening stages and we dropped back, but we closed up to the front runners again. Eventually, we were able to challenge for victory. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 worked very well and the entire team has shown a great performance.”Victory in ADAC GT Masters season openerAMG-Team ZAKSPEED had an emotional roller-coaster ride in the ADAC GT Masters season opener at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. On Saturday, Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig (both GER) claimed victory in the first race of the double-header meeting, but the defending champions lost out on an almost certain victory on Sunday due to a time penalty.In the Magdeburger Börde region, Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig immediately were among the fastest drivers in the field behind the wheel of their new Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 1. On Saturday, Asch started the race from second on the grid. After the driver change, Ludwig remained close to the front runners. A safety car intervention brought him within striking distance to mount a challenge for the lead, followed by a duel over many laps. A spectacular last-gasp overtaking move finally saw Ludwig taking the lead on the penultimate lap and he managed to bring victory home.On Sunday, Ludwig started from pole position and initially extended his lead. During the race, several safety car interventions brought the field together over and over again, including one just before the end of the 60 minutes’ race distance. While in the lead, final driver Asch committed an infringement of the regulations at the end of the safety car intervention, which was penalised with a time penalty. Thus, the duo had to make do with 22nd place with victory in sight. With tenth place on Saturday and fourth place on Sunday, the sister car with Nikolaj Rogivue (CHE) and Felix Rosenqvist (SWE) scored a pair of top ten results.Luca Ludwig, AMG-Team ZAKSPEED: “Saturday was a day we surely will remember for a long time to come. It was just a great victory. We had a good strategy and the team did a good job during the pit stop. Too bad that we incurred that penalty on Sunday, but we were still able to show our potential and to make clear that we are a force to be reckoned with again for this year.”Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH: “A 1-2 in the dress rehearsal for the Nürburgring 24h race and success in the ADAC GT Masters season opener make me very happy, and especially so when considering how strong the opposition was. Congratulations to HTP Motorsport and HARIBO #racing for first and second place at the Nordschleife and to Zakspeed for victory at Oschersleben. And a compliment to all our AMG Performance Teams who presented themselves very well this weekend. Admittedly, we still have some small bits of homework to do. But our co-operation is showing its first results and has made clear that we are competitive at various tracks with our new Mercedes-AMG GT3.”The results at a glance:
ADAC qualifying race 24h
PositionStarting numberCar/TeamDriversLaps
1.30Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team HTP MotorsportDominik Baumann, Maximilian Buhk, Thomas Jäger, Christian Vietoris41
2.8Mercedes-AMG GT3 / HARIBO #racing Team-AMGUwe Alzen, Lance David Arnold, Maximilian Götz, Jan Seyffarth41
5.4Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team Black FalconMaro Engel, Adam Christodoulou, Manuel Metzger, Bernd Schneider41
16.29Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team HTP MotorsportChristian Vietoris, Christian Hohenadel, Maximikian Buhk, Dominik Baumann38
DNF9Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team Black FalconNico Bastian, Yelmer Buurman, Hubert Haupt, Abdulaziz Al Faisal35
ADAC GT Masters: Race 1
PositionStarting numberCar/TeamDriversLaps
1.1Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team ZAKSPEEDSebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig39
10.21Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team ZAKSPEEDNikolaj Rogivue, Felix Rosenqvist39
ADAC GT Masters: Race 2
4.21Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team ZAKSPEEDNikolaj Rogivue, Felix Rosenqvist34
22.1Mercedes-AMG GT3 / AMG-Team ZAKSPEEDSebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig34
* subject to confirmation by the organisersFurther information about AMG Customer Sports can be found at www.mercedes-amg.com/customersports

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