Customer Racing: ADAC GT Masters: Successful end of the ADAC GT Masters season for Mercedes-AMG

With a victory and two further podium results, Mercedes-AMG bows out of the 2019 ADAC GT Masters season. In the finale at the Sachsenring, Maximilian Götz (GER) and Indy Dontje (NED) of the MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport (#47) managed to win the race on Saturday. In the same race, the Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil #racing secured third place with the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3. The #21 sister car finished in second place in the race on Sunday. In the ADAC GT Masters drivers’ standings, the duo of Götz/Dontje missed out on runner-up spot by only one point. Marvin Dienst (GER) and Aidan Read (AUS) of Customer #racing Team Schütz Motorsport conclude the season in second place of the Junior cup standings.

• Götz and Dontje in third place of the ADAC GT Masters drivers’ standings
• Marvin Dienst and Aidan Read new runners-up in Junior standings
• Race 1: First place for MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport (#47), third place for Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil #racing (#20)
• Race 2: Second place for Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil #racing (#21)
  

Sachsenring – For the teams with the Mercedes-AMG GT3s, a strong finish marked the final ADAC GT Masters weekend. For fourth-placed Maximilian Götz and Indy Dontje of the MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport in particular, a podium slot in the drivers’ standings was the goal. The duo with the #47 MANN-FILTER ‘mamba’ car got their weekend off in an accordingly spirited way and had an ideal start: in qualifying on Saturday morning, Dontje put in a perfect lap of the drying Sachsenring to post the fastest time of the 27 GT3 cars in the field.

The Dutchman followed up on his maiden ADAC GT Masters pole position with a dominant performance in the race. In the turmoil after the start, Dontje defended the lead and slightly pulled clear from his rivals with fast laps. At the end of the pit window, he handed the #47 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to Götz while in the lead, after which the latter extended the margin. As the lights-to-flag win was in the bag, Götz had built up an advantage of 31 seconds over his nearest rivals. With their first win of the season, Götz/Dontje came within two points of the team in second place of the drivers’ standings.

Having started from seventh place on the grid, the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil #racing also showed a strong performance in the race on Saturday. Mick Wishofer (AUT) made up five positions at the start. After the driver change, his teammate Kelvin Snoeks (NED) initially held on to second place, but had to let an opponent pass in the closing stages. Third place for Wishofer/Snoeks was the first podium of the season for the Zakspeed team with the #21 sister car of Jimmy Eriksson (SWE) and Daniel Keilwitz (GER) following closely in fourth place.

On Sunday, Keilwitz posted the second-fastest time in qualifying for the final race of the season. However, he dropped back after an unfortunate start into the race, so that the 2013 ADAC GT Masters champion initially had to follow the front runners in fifth place. After the driver change, Eriksson brought the #21 car back in the race in third position and claimed second place with a nice overtaking move soon after that. After 45 laps, the Swede drove the third podium finish of the weekend for Mercedes-AMG home.

For the #47, Sunday started with a setback: in qualifying, Götz initially posted the third-fastest time. However, the MANN-FILTER ‘mamba’ was dropped three places on the grid for crossing the line at the pit entry. As a result, Götz had his direct rivals in the battle for runner-up spot in the standings in his rear-view mirror. In spite of the additional weight due to victory on the previous day, both Götz and Dontje managed to keep the #63 Lamborghini at bay to finish in fifth place. For the drivers’ standings, however, they fell two points short to clinch runner-up spot. The duo ended the ADAC GT Masters season in third place.

The Customer #racing Team Schütz Motorsport’s junior driver pairing of Marvin Dienst (GER) and Aidan Read (AUS) finished eighth in the race on Saturday and also scored points on Sunday with their 14th-place finish. In the junior cup standings, the duo improved to second place on the final weekend.

A successful finale in ADAC GT4 Germany On the support package of the ADAC GT Masters, the ADAC GT4 Germany also concluded its maiden season. For the Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing Teams, there was another podium success: Tim Heinemann and Luke Wankmüller (both GER) secured second place in the race on Sunday with the #77 HP #racing International Mercedes-AMG GT4. In the final drivers’ standings, Jusuf and Hamza Owega (both GER) ended up third with the #99 GetSpeed Performance Mercedes-AMG GT4. In the junior classification, Leipert Motorsport’s Luca-Sandro Trefz (GER) secured second place from Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing Team Bremotion driver Jan-Philipp Springob (GER). Springob’s driving partner Oliver Mayer (GER) claimed the title in the Trophy classification.

Maximilian Götz, MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport #47: “Unfortunately, we only really managed to build up momentum in the final third of the season. Otherwise, the battle for the championship would have looked differently, I am certain about that. After the Nürburgring, where we were only down in sixth place, we have worked our way back up and now conclude the season in third place, only just missing out on runner-up spot. Yesterday’s victory was super. The decision in today’s qualifying still slightly bothers me. But when considering how top-class this field is, we can still be happy. Thanks to Mercedes-AMG and the entire MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport. The guys never lost their faith in us!”

Indy Dontje, MANN-FILTER Team HTP Motorsport #47: “This weekend was really good. Yesterday was a race day as good as they come. My maiden pole position, victory and the fastest race lap! We needed that to stay in contention. Sunday was slightly more difficult. In qualifying, we had bad luck and we were dropped three places. Unfortunately, we were then unable to make up a sufficient number of positions to make up for that. But in the end, I am happy with third place in the championship. After the first half of the season, nobody thought that this would still be possible. I am proud of the team and I say thank you!”

Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing: “First of all, congratulations to the HCB-Rutronik-Racing team on winning the title. I also congratulate our Customer #racing Teams who, after a turbulent season, once again gave their best on this weekend. I am happy for the year to end in a positive way with a victory and two further podium results. That enables us to look ahead in a confident way. Now, we will first be celebrating with everyone and then come back stronger next year!”

Result race 1 ADAC GT Masters, Sachsenring*:

* excerpt subject to confirmation by the organiser

Result race 2 ADAC GT Masters, Sachsenring*:

* excerpt subject to confirmation by the organiser