Since Manuel Metzger won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2016, he’s always been at the front fighting for wins. This year he’s back with Maro Engel, Adam Christodoulou and Luca Stolz in the #4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT for another go at victory. In Friday’s Top Qualifying shoot-out Engel raced the AMG to pole position with help from Metzger who went out scouting the Nordschleife to optimize the team’s chances.
NÜRBURGRING 24 HOURS: LATEST NEWS | ENTRY LIST | ENTRY LIST UPDATE | LIVE STREAM | PODCAST WITH MANUEL METZGER | THURSDAY QUALIFYING REPORT | FRIDAY QUALIFYING REPORT | MID-RACE REPORT | RACE REPORT | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II | HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO
DRIVER REPORTS | QUALIFYING: TIM SCHEERBARTH – THURSDAY | LARS KERN | BEN TUCK | THOMAS KIEFER | DAVID PITTARD | MANUEL METZGER | TIM SCHEERBARTH
DRIVER REPORTS | RACE SATURDAY: BEN TUCK | THOMAS KIEFER | LARS KERN | SUNDAY: TIM SCHEERBARTH | BEN TUCK | FINISH: TIM SCHEERBARTH | LARS KERN | BEN TUCK | THOMAS KIEFER
Manuel Metzger: “Friday is done it was an exciting day for our #4 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT because we were not qualified yet for the Top Qualifying 2 – we still had to qualify in the top of Q1.
“We had an easy afternoon session in the third qualifying. Adam did some laps in the wet and then Maro got in to get ready for Top Qualifying 1. Top Q1 was a bit confusing with the tyres as it was raining before but then it stopped raining. I was out on track to check the track conditions. Obviously, you cannot go on the track or near to the track but you can see the track at some places, so I was out there with some of the other drivers scouting the track to give some help on tyre choice.
“We went out on wets for Q1. Maro did a great job securing P1 so that meant we could go on to Top Q2 which was our goal to fight for pole. What to say, he’s done it again! The second lap was from another world, another league – a five-second advantage to P2 so a crazy lap. I saw the onboard and it was just everything perfect, it was the perfect lap he’s done there in the mixed conditions. I’m really really proud of Maro and the team as well, the whole season they’ve done a great job to always prepare the perfect car so a thanks to them.
“Tomorrow is the race and I’m not sure what the conditions will be like, it will be pretty challenging during the race with a lot of situations where you might be on the wrong tyre or have to survive on the tyre. It will be tough, you just need to stay cool, don’t get stressed and don’t panic if a decision maybe is wrong or you lose some time. You never know, luck can also strike in your favour.
“I’m very much looking forward to to the race, we have a very strong car and a very strong line-up. Maro will start the race and I will be second in – I look forward to that.”
More driver reports
Stay tuned for more driver reports this weekend from Manuel Metzger, Lars Kern, David Pittard, Thomas Kiefer, Tim Scheerbarth and Ben Tuck.
Please consider making a donation so we can keep bringing you our best content from the racetrack.
