Tales from the paddock: A heroic charge, a one-two win and a podium lockout

From Oulton Park to Monza and the Lausitzring, another successful weekend of motorsport for Mercedes-AMG

• This is what happened: Results and facts
• News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams

This is what happened: Results and facts

• F1: Valtteri Bottas's charge from the back of the field ends on the Monza podium
• ADAC GT Masters: Podium lockout for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the second race at the Lausitzring, preceded by a Top Three finish in the first
• British GT Championship: The Mercedes-AMG GT3 chalks up a one-two in the first race and a podium in round two at Oulton Park
• IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge: Two podiums for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in Monterey
• GTC Race: A win and a P2 at the Lausitzring

News snippets

Facts and figures from Monza: The Italian Grand Prix last weekend rounded off the first Formula One triple-header after the summer break. The legendary Monza circuit staged the second sprint race in the history of the premier class of motorsport. In line with the new weekend format, qualifying took place on Friday evening. Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time, followed by Lewis Hamilton in second place. In the 18-lap #f1 Sprint on Saturday, Valtteri delivered a lights-to-flag victory, while Lewis came in fifth. In Sunday’s Grand Prix, Valtteri was obliged to start the race from the back of the field after a fourth power unit was fitted in his car. He overcame the handicap to mount a remarkable fightback from the back of the grid, eventually finishing in the Top Three. Lewis retired after a collision with Max Verstappen on the 26th lap of the race. The Dutchman was likewise unable to finish the race and, moreover, was handed a three-position grid penalty by the stewards to be served at the next #event. As a result, the situation in the Drivers’ World Championship remains unchanged, while the Mercedes-AMG Petronas #f1 Team (362.5 points) managed to marginally extend its lead over Red Bull (344.5 points) in the Constructors’ World Championship.

Podium lockout for Mercedes-AMG in ADAC GT Masters at Lausitzring: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport pulled off a dream result on the fourth weekend of the ADAC GT Masters. In Sunday’s race at the Lausitzring south of Berlin, Jules Gounon (FRA) and Igor Walilko (RUS) in the Zakspeed #13 scored their first win of the campaign from pole position. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz driving the Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT #22 in second followed by Maximilian Buhk (all GER) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) in the Landgraf HTP/WWR #70 in third made it an all-AMG podium. Engel and Stolz had already made a first podium appearance of the weekend after finishing second on Saturday. The pairing can now look back on four Top Three results in the 2021 season. Buhk and Marciello meanwhile retain second place in the drivers’ standings. The next ADAC GT Masters race weekend (2 - 3 October) will take place at the Sachsenring.

Customer #racing teams celebrate three class wins at NLS7: In the standout six-hour round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal race, several AMG teams enjoyed success in their class. Mustafa Mehmet Kaya (TUR), Gabriele Piana (ITA), Mike Stursberg (GER) and Ersin Yücesan (TUR) in the number 140 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR claimed a fifth win of the season in the SP8T class. Marek Böckmann, Alex Lambertz, Marcel Marchewicz and Reinhold Renger (all GER) in the number 165 Schnitzelalm #racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 also made it onto the top rung of the podium as the best in the SP10 class, a result that was enough for them to wrap up that particular championship ahead of time. The third AMG win of the day went to Moritz Kranz (GER) and Janine Shoffner (USA) driving the number 9 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the SP9 Am classification. The duo finished eleventh overall. The best-placed Mercedes-AMG in the general classification was the number 6 Haupt #racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in seventh overall; Patrick Assenheimer, Hubert Haupt and Manuel Metzger (all GER) took turns at the wheel. The Eifel circuit stayed dry for the whole of the six-hour race.

Rewarding weekend in the GT4 France and #imsa Michelin Pilot Challenge: Eric Debard and Simon Gachet (both FRA) in the AKKA ASP Mercedes-AMG GT4 secured overall victory for the first time this season in the second of two GT4 France races at the Circuit de Lédénon, having already finished third in class on Saturday. The combination of these top results with a P4 for Fabien Barthez and Thomas Drouet (both FRA) in the number 16 car and a P5 for Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla (both FRA) in the number 87 has enabled AKKA ASP to extend their lead over their closest pursuers in the Pro-Am team standings to 26 points. Drouet also took over at the top in the Pro-Am Drivers’ Championship and will travel to the final #event of the season at Circuit Paul Ricard (2nd ‑ 3rd October) holding a three-point lead. Rounding off a successful weekend in the south of France were Sébastien Baud and Enzo Joulié (both FRA). The Team CD Sport duo sharing the cockpit of the number 74 car were runners-up in the Silver class on Saturday. The following day, the two local favourites went one better to claim victory in their classification, their first P1 of the current season.

In the #imsa Michelin Pilot Challenge at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, WINWARD #racing celebrated not one but two podium finishes. Indy Dontje (NED) and Russell Ward (USA) in the number 4 GT4 were runners-up, followed by third-placed team-mates Alec Udell and Bryce Ward (both USA) in the #57 car. The result means that Mercedes-AMG has reduced the gap to the leader in the manufacturers’ standings to 100 points.

Overall victory and multiple class wins in the British GT and International GT Open: On the penultimate race weekend of the #britishgtchampionship at Oulton Park, our Customer #racing teams delivered one overall win and two additional class victories. In the first of the two 60-minute races on Sunday, the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with drivers Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR) and Kevin Tse (MAC) at the wheel registered a second win of the season for RAM #racing. Their team-mates Yelmer Buurman (NED) and Ian Loggie (GBR) contributed another podium finish with third place in the second race. The two drivers in the #6 car thus remain second in the Drivers’ Championship while RAM #racing are also second in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of the final #event at Donington Park (16th ‑ 17th October). The father-son combination of Richard and Sam Neary (both GBR) played their part in the one-two for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport with a P2 and a victory in their class. In Race 2 contested in the evening, the number 8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by Team ABBA #racing delivered another class victory.

There was also ample cause for celebration in the International GT Open at the Red Bull Ring. AKM Motorsport’s Nico Bastian and Florian Scholz (both GER) in the #47 Mercedes-AMG GT3 first secured third place in the Pro-Am class on Saturday before then taking third place overall and first place in their class in race two on Sunday. Second place in the Pro-Am went to Karol Basz and Marcin Jedlinski (both POL) in the #777 of Olimp #racing.

Other successes from around the world: A survey of the minor leagues also produces an appreciable list of Mercedes-AMG victories. In the GTC Race series, our Customer #racing teams Space Drive #racing, EastSide Motorsport and Neumann #racing Team reported eight out of a possible nine class wins. Tim Heinemann and Kenneth Heyer (both GER) in the number 31 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by Space Drive #racing were creditable runners-up in the general classification of the Goodyear 60. Heinemann driving solo then took the overall win in the first sprint on Sunday.

Lin Nan (TWN) has moved into the overall lead in the GT Super Sprint Challenge. In the first of two 30-minute races on Sunday, the championship contender in the #96 Toro #racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 worked his way up from ninth on the grid to third. In the second race at the Shanghai International Circuit, he then registered his first win of the season, which propels Nan to first place in the drivers’ standings with four out of ten races completed. Li Lichao (CHN) of Team 777 by Climax #racing finished third on Sunday to claim another podium for Mercedes-AMG.

In the Russian GT4 Championship, our Customer #racing teams could hardly have produced a more impressive result. The two races on Sunday ended as podium lockouts for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 contingent. Race 1 finished with a one-two for the Capital #racing team. Anton Nemkin in the #83 took the chequered flag first, with Denis Remenyako second in the #13 and Vadim Meshcheriakov (all RUS) third on a podium that was monopolised by AMG drivers. It was a similar group photo after the second race, as the same three drivers were presented with trophies, but in reverse order to the morning.