Podium And Class Win For Mercedes-AMG Motorsport In GT World Challenge Europe

Raffaele Marciello (ITA) and Timur Boguslavskiy (RUS) have secured another podium result for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in the GT World Challenge Europe during the Sprint Cup event at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. The duo with the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP finished in second place in the first of the two sprint races. On Sunday, the #89 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the AKKA ASP Team and the Madpanda Motorsport car with starting number 90 secured a pair of top ten results in the overall classification. In the class results, Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Valentin Pierburg (GER) claimed victory in the Pro-Am category with the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3 run by SPS automotive performance.

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• Race 1: second place for Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP #88
• Race 2: two Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the top 10
• Victory in the Pro-Am class in race 2 for the #20 SPS automotive performance car

The second Sprint Cup event of the GT World Challenge Europe was held in the usual windy conditions at the circuit in the Dutch dunes. In qualifying on Saturday morning, impeded by a longer interruption, the two Silver Cup cars from Toksport WRT (#7) and AKKA ASP (#87) secured the best starting grid positions for the Mercedes-AMG GT3s with third and fifth place respectively. Timur Boguslavskiy started the race from seventh place with the #88 car. Thanks to a perfectly timed pit stop by the Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP, teammate Raffaele Marciello was able to aim for a podium finish after the driver change in the second half of the race. He moved up to fourth in the order and immediately started putting the drivers in front of him under pressure. With a strong recovery drive, the Mercedes-AMG Driver secured third place and started the hunt for second. With seven minutes remaining, he moved up one more position with the next successful attack. After 37 laps, Marciello crossed the finish line in second place, securing the second podium result from three Sprint Cup races for himself and Boguslavskiy.

Three further Mercedes-AMG GT3s finished in the top ten on Saturday. The  #7 and the #87 car staged an entertaining duel for the positions throughout the race. Toksport WRT driver Oscar Tunjo (COL) eventually had the upper hand over Konstantin Tereschenko (RUS), securing fifth place for the car with starting number 7, followed by the #87 AKKA ASP Team entry that was classified in sixth position. With the #6 Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT car, Luca Stolz (GER) showed a quick response at the start, moving up from ninth to fifth place. However, the #6 car lost some ground during the driver change from Stolz to Maro Engel (GER). Engel worked his way back up against the strong rivals in the Pro class and eventually finished in seventh place.

Moreover, there was a class podium for Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Valentin Pierburg (GER) with the #20 SPS automotive performance car in third place of the Pro-Am division.

Race 2: Two Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the top 10 and Pro-Am class win
On Sunday, Raffaele Marciello showed a dominant performance with the #88 car. In the morning, he secured pole position in qualifying. In the race in the afternoon, the Italian quickly pulled clear from the rest of the field, building up a 15-second advantage over the competition. Timur Boguslavskiy took over the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in a comfortable position, but a problem with the car’s electronics brought the Mercedes-AMG GT3 to a halt while on course for victory. In the #89 sister car, Jules Gounon (FRA) showed an impressive recovery drive. From 14^th on the grid, he continuously charged to the front, claiming fifth place at the end of his stint. Teammate Petru Razvan Umbrarescu (ROM) remained among the frontrunners, withstanding the strong opposition. As the best-placed Mercedes-AMG GT3 driver, he was sixth across the line after one hour. With the #90 Madpanda Motorsport car, a second Mercedes-AMG GT3 made it into the top ten. Ezequiel Pérez Companc (ARG) and Rik Breukers (NED) also made a big step forward. Having started 17^th, the duo finished the race in ninth place.

In the Pro-Am class, Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Valentin Pierburg (GER) put in a strong performance with the #20 SPS automotive performance Mercedes-AMG GT3. Starting driver Baumann temporarily was as high up as fifth overall before handing the car to Pierburg. The latter withstood the pressure from his fiercest rival in the Pro-Am class and brought the team’s first class win of the season home in a commanding way. Meanwhile, Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT’s Maro Engel had bad luck. In the battle for positions, his #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was hit by an opponent. That resulted into a puncture, forcing the team to retire.

Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT (#6): “Currently, things aren’t really going as they should. We got a puncture without being at fault following contact with another car on the main straight and were unable to continue. However, we aren’t giving up, surely, things will change again soon. Thanks to the team that is working so hard for us, we will be back.”

Raffaele Marciello, Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP (#88): “The race on Saturday was fun. The car worked really well and I made some nice moves. Moreover, I was able to score valuable points for the overall championship and the Sprint Cup standings.”

Dominik Baumann, SPS automotive performance (#20): “We are super happy with the first GT World Challenge class win. After a qualifying that wasn’t perfect, I was even more motivated going into the race. Starting a little bit further back and avoiding the turmoil up front paid off. I kept out of it all and was able to hand over the car in the lead of our class. The pit stop worked super and Valentin brought it home without any mistake.”

Result GT World Challenge Europe, Zandvoort, race 1*:

* excerpt subject to confirmation by the organiser

Result GT World Challenge Europe, Zandvoort, race 2*:

* excerpt subject to confirmation by the organiser

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