Podium success and Top Ten placings in the California 8 Hours of Laguna Seca

In the second race of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport again made it onto the podium. Following a P3 at Bathurst, the number 999 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Mercedes-AMG Team GroupM Racing finished second at the Laguna Seca Raceway. The result was enough to take the driver trio of Maximilian Buhk (GER), Maximilian Götz (GER) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) to the top of the drivers’ standings in the international endurance series. The sister car, number 888 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Maro Engel (GER), Yelmer Buurman (NED) and Luca Stolz (GER), came sixth to clinch another Top Ten place and contribute vital points to the team’s challenge for the manufacturer’s title. Mercedes-AMG has further extended its lead in this particular championship to 19 points after two out of five races in the campaign. P10 for the number 43 car entered by STRAKKA Racing and driven by Christina Nielsen (DEN), Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Adam Christodoulou (GBR) meant that no fewer than three Mercedes-AMG GT3s finished the California 8 Hours of Laguna Seca among the Top Ten in a field of 20 starters. Unfortunately, Gary Paffett (GBR), Tristan Vautier (FRA) and Lewis Williamson (GBR) in the number 44 car entered by Mercedes-AMG Team STRAKKA Racing were out of luck. After starting from twelfth place, they looked to be on course for a podium until problems with the steering forced them to retire