BWT Mücke Motorsport has secured the first win of the season for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in the ADAC GT Masters: in the first race on Saturday, Sebastian Asch (GER) and Lucas Auer (AUT) drove their #26 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to victory at the Nürburgring. Luca Stolz/Luca Ludwig (both GER) finished in third place with the #21 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED. With this result, junior driver Luca Stolz also secured his second victory of the season in the junior classification of the ‘super sports car league’. In the second race on Sunday, seventh place for the duo Maximilian Buhk (GER)/Indy Dontje (NED), #48 Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport, was the best result for the performance brand from Affalterbach.
Victory for Sebastian Asch/Lucas Auer with the #26 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the BWT Mücke Motorsport team in the first race
Luca Stolz/Luca Ludwig claim third place for the #21 Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED in the first race
Junior driver Luca Stolz takes his second win of the season in the junior classification
Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport #48 with a top ten result in race two
Nürburg – A successful weekend for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in the ADAC GT Masters: in the ninth and tenth race of the season in the ‘super sports car league’ at the Nürburgring, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 scored one victory and another podium finish.
In dry conditions, five Mercedes-AMG GT3 started into the first race on Saturday. Luca Stolz started the one-hour race from pole position with the #21 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED, but dropped back to third after slightly locking up under braking in the first corner. The driver to benefit was Sebastian Asch, who had made a good start and moved up into the lead after the first corner with the #26 BWT Mücke Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3. Following a rather turbulent opening stage including a pair of safety car interventions, the German handed the car to Lucas Auer while in the lead. The DTM driver built on the strong performance of his team-mate and further extended the lead. With a dominant closing stage, Sebastian Asch/Lucas Auer then secured the first win of the season for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in the ‘super sports car league’. Pole-sitter Luca Stolz defended his third place until the driver change, after which his team-mate Luca Ludwig safely drove the podium finish for the #21 Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED home. Third place overall was also enough for Luca Stolz to claim victory in the junior classification. From 17th place on the grid, Patrick Assenheimer (GER) and Maximilian Götz (GER) drove the #84 Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport car to seventh place after a strong recovery and thus secured a top ten result.
Race 2: Top ten result for #48 Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport
In the second race on Sunday, the #48 Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport achieved the best result for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport. Maximilian Buhk, who had stepped in for Marvin Kirchhöfer (GER) at short notice, and Indy Dontje started from tenth place and managed to move up to seventh. The other Mercedes-AMG GT3 crossed the finish line in eleventh (#21 Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED) and 13th place (#26 BWT Mücke Motorsport). For Maximilian Götz/Patrick Assenheimer, #84 Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport, and Nikolaj Rogivue (SUI)/Nicolai Sylvest (DEN), #20 Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED, the race was already over after they had innocently become involved in an accident in the first corner.
Sebastian Asch, BWT Mücke Motorsport #26: “In the first race, I made a good start and I was able to take the lead. Of course, I also benefited from mistakes by others. The two restarts were a hot affair, but I was able to defend first place on both occasions. The pace of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was excellent and then Lucas drove very well for the remainder of the race.”
Lucas Auer, BWT Mücke Motorsport #26: “Congratulations to the entire BWT Mücke Motorsport team on this great performance. In the first race, Sebastian did a really good job and showed a strong performance both at the start and during the restarts. The only thing I had to do was to bring it home. Already being on the podium as the winner in what was only my second weekend in the ADAC GT Masters is great.”
Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG Team ZAKSPEED #21: “In the first corner of the first race, I braked too late with cold tyres. That shouldn’t happen and eventually cost us two positions. Third place is a good result, but still, we can’t be fully satisfied with our performance here at the Nürburgring.”