In endurance racing history it is rare for the very same car to deliver two major results in two major 24 Hour races.
So the achievements of Mercedes-AMG GT3 – chassis number C190 AMG GT3-22.391 in taking the win at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa right after having claimed second place in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring is something rather special – and the car will be rewarded with a cosseted future role in the factory collection.
The race-winning Mercedes-AMG GT3 was completed on 28th April, around one month prior to its debut at the Nordschleife.
There, the car, run by Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed with starting number #3, was on the grid in the pink livery of Mercedes-AMG Partner BWT. Adam Christodoulou, Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller drove from 17th place on the grid to second place, without incurring any noteworthy damage on the car.
As a result, the foundation was laid to send chassis number GT3-22.391 once again into a race around the clock after 5,191 kilometres completed at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
Prior to the race at Spa, the obligatory service after 5,000 kilometres was carried out in Affalterbach. This includes the replacement of the fuel, air and oil filters plus a transmission oil and engine oil change.
The standard preparation procedure for the next upcoming race included a brake calliper service, bleeding of the brakes and a replacement clutch as well as the replacement of the skid blocks on the floor section.
New glasses were fitted on the additional headlights. On top of that, the exhaust system, the rear wing and the restrictors were adapted to the requirements by SRO for events that are part of the GT World Challenge.
Mercedes-AMG Team AKKODIS ASP ran the car from 28th July for the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa meeting. Raffaele Marciello put the AMG on pole position and two days and 4,454 kilometres later, together with Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella, the team celebrated a win, the first for AMG since 2013 and the first for the current model AMG GT3 Evo.
After two outings, two historic endurance race results and with 9,645 kilometres completed, the successful GT3 is now entering its early retirement. Next to other historic cars, the C190 AMG GT3-22.391 will get its own place in the Mercedes-AMG collection.
Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “Many things have to align for being so successful in two of the world’s most demanding endurance races with one and the same car. But without any doubt, we have laid the foundation with the concept of our Mercedes-AMG GT3, aimed at endurance racing qualities combined with long rebuild intervals. These two achievements with one and the same car also underline our proven technology and the maturity of our race cars. Our thanks for providing this proof therefore not only go out to the six drivers who drove fast yet carefully. In particular, we have to thank our engineers and mechanics at the track and in Affalterbach. Had it not been for them, our Mercedes-AMG GT3 couldn’t have demonstrated this reliability for which it is admired all over the world.”
