The teams with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 have a successful night in the 24-hour race behind them. After 93 laps of the Grand Prix circuit and the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, there is a quadruple lead for the cars from Affalterbach: #88 HARIBO Racing Team-AMG from #4 AMG-Team BLACK FALCON, #29 AMG-Team HTP Motorsport and #9 AMG-Team BLACK FALCON. All four cars are on the same lap and have excellent prospects in the battle for the outright win.
After the rain in the first quarter of the race, dry track conditions and a continued dominant performance by the Mercedes-AMG GT3 made their mark on the night during the 24-hour race. The front-runners having been able to change to slick tyres from 22.00 hrs onwards, especially the #88 HARIBO Racing Team-AMG car with Maximilian Götz (GER), Lance David Arnold (GER), Uwe Alzen (GER) and Jan Seyffarth (GER) initially extended its lead. After a slight collision, the car had to turn into the pits to be checked, but was soon able to rejoin the race.
Fautless driving performances and scheduled pit stops also allowed three other Mercedes-AMG GT3 to establish themselves within the group at the front of the field: the #29 AMG-Team HTP Motorsport entry with Christian Hohenadel (GER), Marco Seefried (GER), Christian Vietoris (GER) and Renger van der Zande (NED) as well as the pair of AMG-Team BLACK FALCON cars with Maro Engel (GER), Yelmer Buurman (NED), Hubert Haupt (GER) and Dirk Müller (GER) driving the #9 car and Bernd Schneider (GER), Adam Christodoulou (GBR), Manuel Metzger (GER) and double starter Maro Engel (GER) in the #4 entry. The quartet of the AMG Performance Teams alternated in the lead until the morning hours. As the final quarter of the race got underway, weather conditions changed again. At an increasingly damp track, the quadruple lead of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 continues. With 93 laps completed, the #88 car is leading from the #4, #29 and #9 machines, The #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the MANN-FILTER Team ZAKSPEED with Sebastian Asch (GER), Kenneth Heyer (GER), Daniel Keilwitz (GER) and Luca Ludwig (GER) currently is in 13th position.
Three Mercedes-AMG GT3 had setbacks: at the beginning of the night, the #8 HARIBO Racing Team-AMG car became involved in a collision. On the 23rd lap, the team decided to withdraw the car from the race. Just after 2.00 hrs, the #30 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the AMG-Team HTP Motorsport had to end its race following an accident at Adenauer Forst: Dominik Baumann (AUT), Maximilian Buhk (GER), Thomas Jäger (GER) and Stefan Mücke (GER) were in fourth place at the time. In the moring hours, the #14 BLACK FALCON car with Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA), Indy Dontje (NED), Rob Huff (GBR) and Gerwin Schuring (NED) was involved in an accident. All the drivers escaped unscathed after the accidents.
Lance David Arnold, HARIBO Racing Team-AMG #88: “For us, everything is going well so far. During the night, we changed the brake discs, because we had vibrations on the front axle. In the second stint, however, I was able to push more again. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is running perfectly and we have a good rhythm. Now, the aim is to make it through without any mistakes.”
Maro Engel, AMG-Team BLACK FALCON #4 and #9: “It was a thrilling night and a fantastic atmosphere: a drying track, fog and bonfires along the track. We have made it through the night without any damage and we are among the front-runners with both Mercedes-AMG GT3. That is a great position to be in for the upcoming hours.”
Renger van der Zande, AMG-Team HTP Motorsport #29: “It is running very well. In the rain, Christian Hohenadel did a great job to stay in the group of the front-runners. I took over when it dried out and I think that we were the fastest car on track for most of the time. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 really is very good. We are having a fantastic 24-hour race so far and I am really enjoying it.”
Daniel Keilwitz, MANN-FILTER Team ZAKSPEED #75: “Unfortunately, we were having some minor issues during the night and also incurred a penalty. Therefore, we slightly dropped back. At the moment, however, it is running pretty well and I hope that it will remain dry. I think that we can still move a little further up. Finishing in the top ten would be nice.”