High-class driver line-up by Mercedes-AMG for Nürburgring 24-hour race

During the season highlight at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport will be attacking again with a strong line-up. The goal is clear: bringing the next victory in the Nürburgring 24-hour race after 2013 and 2016 to Affalterbach. To this end, a total of seven Mercedes-AMG GT3 will be competing in the legendary endurance racing classic, four of them with extended factory support. The teams to run the Performance cars with their top line-ups are Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON and Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER. Meanwhile, plans for the three further Customer Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 by GetSpeed Performance in the field of the 24-hour race also look promising.

• Four Mercedes-AMG GT3s to race with extended factory support
• High-class car combinations of the Mercedes-AMG Drivers
• In total, seven Mercedes-AMG GT3s and three GT4s planned to race

For the 47^th running of the 24-hour race (20-23 June), Mercedes-AMG again is entering a strong line-up. After victory in 2016 and the double podium finish in 2018, BLACK FALCON again ranks among the favourites for the endurance race on the Nordschleife. This year, the team from Meuspath is running three Mercedes-AMG GT3s, all competing with extended factory support from Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing. A further Performance car will be run by Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER.

In the BLACK FALCON Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 2, the runners-up from the previous year will be racing in an unchanged formation: Adam Christodoulou (GBR), Maro Engel, Manuel Metzger and Dirk Müller (all GER). In preparation for the season highlight, the quartet already was successful at the Nordschleife recently: Christodoulou/Engel/Metzger/Müller finished third in the third VLN season round. In the team’s #3 sister car, Maximilian Buhk and Hubert Haupt will be alternating with the third-placed from the previous year, Thomas Jäger and Luca Stolz (all GER) in the 24-hour race. With Yelmer Buurman (NED), a further driver who finished on the podium in 2018 will be in the third BLACK FALCON car. The quick Dutchman is sharing driving duties in the #6 car with Patrick Assenheimer, Nico Bastian (both GER) and Gabriele Piana (ITA).

Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER also has a high-class quartet on the entry list of the 24-hour race: Lance David Arnold, Maximilian Götz and Christian Hohenadel (all GER) will be taking on the race in the Green Hell with the famous yellow-and-green ‘Mamba’ with starting number 48 together with reigning Blancpain GT Series champion Raffaele Marciello (ITA) .

Next to these four cars, there will be three further GT3 from Affalterbach on the grid, all run by Customer Racing Team GetSpeed Performance and also with high-profile driver names. The line-up is a mix of seasoned stalwarts and young talents: it ranges from reigning IGTC champion Tristan Vautier (FRA) via Dominik Baumann (AUT), Renger van der Zande (NED) and the German trio of Kenneth Heyer, Luca Ludwig and Jan Seyffarth (all GER) to the junior duo of Fabian Vettel and Philip Ellis (both GER), both taking on their maiden 24h Nürburgring race. The allocation of the eight drivers on two of the GetSpeed Performance cars hasn’t been finalised yet. The drivers of the third GetSpeed GT3 will be Janine Hill (GBR), Markus Palttala (FIN), Fabian Schiller (GER) and John Shoffner (USA).

There are further AMG Customer Racing efforts with the Mercedes-AMG GT4 that had a very successful debut in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring with a pair of class wins last year. This year, a total of three Mercedes-AMG GT4s from Affalterbach is planned to race.

Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “For us, the 24-hour race will be a season highlight again, and not only on track. Fans will get to experience a lot in the support programme and the Mercedes-AMG Fan Base. After 2013 and 2016, we want to claim the third victory for Mercedes-AMG in the Green Hell in 2019.”

Thomas Jäger, Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON #3 and co-ordinator Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “We are delighted that we will again be taking on the 24-hour race with a strong line-up together with the teams and drivers we have been working with for many years. Moreover, this season, new teams are also relying on our products and our support. After the changes in the regulations and as we have had only limited mileage at the Nordschleife so far this year, the qualification race will be an important dress rehearsal for us to be prepared for the 24-hour race as well as possible and maximally competitive.”

Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON #2: “ The 24 Hours at the Nürburgring are the undisputed highlight of the season. Having just missed out on victory last year as the red flag took away our advantage, I am massively looking forward to the event. We again have the same line up as last year in which we finished second. With the Mercedes-AMG GT3, we have a car that can fully benefit from its strengths at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Our goal is clear: we want to bring the trophy to Affalterbach again.”

Raffaele Marciello, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #48: “Last year, I have been able to acquire a lot of experience during my maiden 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. The track at day and night time, with dense traffic and in the most varied weather conditions. This year, we have a very strong and experienced driver crew with Christian, Max and Lance, capable of being in contention for victory. For me, that slightly increases the pressure for my second Nürburgring endurance race, but I am also looking forward to it. I definitely want to win this race. »

Fabian Vettel, GetSpeed Performance: “A legendary race, a legendary race track. Of course, you hear all the famous stories about the achievements and the weather playing crazy, but you can’t really fully understand them as long as you haven’t actually raced there yourself. With my first races and laps in the VLN races at the Nordschleife this season, I was finally able to experience all that for myself. To sum it up, I am massively looking forward to my maiden 24-hour race, even though it is a bit like being thrown in at the deep end.”

Patrick Assenheimer, Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON #6: “The24-hour race is the undisputed highlight on my race calendar. Being allowed to drive a Performance car with such strong teammates this year is an honour. But there are some 30 other cars with top line-ups in the field that also want to be up front. We have to push while keeping the necessary respect at the same time in order to bring the car through the race without any damage and to achieve the best possible result.”

Driver-team allocation Mercedes-AMG GT3, 24h Nürburgring*:

* subject to last-minute changes