• Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER finishes second thanks to clever tactics
• Championship lead for Mercedes-AMG in the overall standings and Endurance Cup
• Stefan Wendl: "We made the right strategic decisions"
The Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER took a significant step towards the title in the penultimate round of the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup. Lucas Auer (AUT), Matteo Cairoli (ITA) and Maro Engel (GER) finished second in the three-hour race on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit. This puts defending champions Auer and Engel in the lead in the overall drivers' standings, and Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER in the team standings of the GT World Challenge Europe. At the same time, together with Cairoli, they extended their lead in both Endurance Cup classifications.
The #48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER finished Sunday morning's qualifying in seventh place, making it the highest-ranked Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the starting grid. Maro Engel took responsibility for the start and completed a long first stint. Thanks to this successful overcut strategy, teammate Matteo Cairoli returned to the track in fifth place after the first stop and was ahead of the direct championship rivals for the first time in this race. After around two hours, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER once again benefited from good timing at the pit stop. Due to a full-course yellow phase, the #48 lost significantly less time than its competitors. Final driver Lucas Auer therefore restarted from second place overall and did not have to take any more risks to bring the result home confidently.
The second performance car, the #17 from Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed, was spun off the track in the second qualifying segment and subsequently started from the pit lane. Luca Stolz (GER) worked his way up to 30th position in the first hour. Fabian Schiller (GER) and Jules Gounon (AND) were able to make up further places during their stints and ultimately completed their strong comeback in 22nd place.
Individual classifications: Class victories for Boutsen VDS and 2 Seas Motorsport
The Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams celebrated victories in two individual classifications. Loris Cabirou, César Gazeau and Aurélien Panis (all FRA) from Boutsen VDS won the Silver Cup and finished the race in an impressive ninth place overall. Ben Barnicoat, Charles Dawson and Tom Lebbon (all GBR) secured first place in the Bronze Cup. The trio had previously taken the class lead midway through the race with the #222 Mercedes-AMG GT3 from 2 Seas Motorsport.
>> Results GT World Challenge Nürburgring
Preview: Exciting championship decider in Barcelona
The season finale will take place from 10 to 12 October at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where the championship decisions in the overall standings and in the Endurance Cup will be made. Ahead of the final three-hour race, Auer, Cairoli and Engel lead the endurance standings by five points. The Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER travels to Barcelona with a four-point lead in the team standings. The season finale of the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Sprint Cup will be held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia from 19 to 21 September. There, Auer, Engel and the Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER can collect further points for the overall standings to put themselves in a good position for the final weekend.
Facts, Data, Figures
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Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit: - Length: 5.137 km - Opening: 1984 (Grand Prix circuit) |
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Conditions: - Qualifying: Cloudy and dry with an outside temperature of 16 degrees Celsius - Race: Cloudy and dry with an outside temperature of 18 degrees Celsius - Participants: 61 vehicles |
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Mercedes-AMG results: - P2 #48 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER - P9 #10 Boutsen VDS - P14 #9 Boutsen VDS - P22 #17 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed - P27 #3 GetSpeed - P30 #6 GetSpeed - P31 #222 2 Seas Motorsport - P41 #81 Winward Racing - DNF #611 Nordique Racing |
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Mercedes-AMG rankings in the driver and team championships: - Driver Endurance Cup: P1 Lucas Auer, Matteo Cairoli, Maro Engel (72 points) - Team Endurance Cup: P1 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER (77) - Driver Overall: P1 Lucas Auer, Maro Engel - Team Overall: P1 Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER |
"Congratulations to the Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER and our three drivers on this podium success. After a difficult qualifying session, we played our cards right tactically in the race and got the most out of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 today. We are naturally delighted that this has put us in the lead in the Endurance Cup and the overall standings. The two class victories in the Silver and Bronze Cup by Boutsen VDS and 2 Seas Motorsport round off a successful weekend for us."
Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing
"That was a great job by the whole team. I am very happy with the result. The competition was very fast this weekend, but we had a perfect race - from the strategy to the pit stops to the pace of my teammates. Second place was therefore the best possible result. With this success behind us, I am now looking forward to the season finale in Barcelona."
Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #48
"It was a strong race for us. We made some very good strategic decisions during the race and had a much better pace over the distance than in qualifying. The right timing with the pit stop during the full course yellow phase then put us on the podium. These are valuable points for us in the championship. The final phase will be very exciting, but I think we can look ahead confidently."
Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER #48
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Mercedes-Benz Group AG published this content on August 31, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on August 31, 2025 at 19:00 UTC.
