An accident on Friday during practice has left the #6 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo irreparable for Saturday’s VLN Nürburgring Endurance Series NLS3.
The accident happened towards the end of the session on Friday afternoon at Schwedenkreuz. Despite heavy damage to his car, Maro Engel exited the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo unscathed.
“I was caught out by the tyres not being quite up to the optimal temperature yet,” Engel explained.
“I feel extremely sorry and disappointed for my teammates and for my team at Haupt Racing Team. Unfortunately, car 6 has to be retired for the weekend, and to make things worse, it’s a tough week for the entire team: they have the DTM test coming up this weekend – and obviously the NLS2 race tomorrow – and next weekend the 24-hour Qualifying Race and are now facing a race against time to find a replacement car.”
Due to the cancellation of the VLN pre-season test and NLS1 and Haupt Racing Team’s commitment to the GT World Challenge Europe, valuable practice kilometres are on the line before the Nürburgring 24 Hours on 3-6 June. To allow for enough track time, Hubert Haupt and Maro Engel have been transferred to the #16 Mercedes-AMG Team HRT Bilstein Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, joining Adam Christodoulou and Luca Stolz, at the expense of Manuel Metzger who has given up his seat for this weekend.
Instead, Metzger will contest next weekend’s ADAC 24h Qualifying Race.
“We decided as a team to let Maro, Luca, Adam and Hubert race tomorrow in the Mercedes-AMG Team HRT #16 with the yellow-blue Bilstein design,” Metzger said.
“With the upcoming 24-hour race in mind, this is the best solution as Luca and Maro won’t be able to drive the car until then.
“So, I will not start tomorrow, and instead I will support the team on the pit wall and be back in the cockpit of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the 24h Qualifying Race next week.”
The 62. EIBACH ADAC ACAS Cup starts Saturday at 12:00 CEST. Watch race day LIVE on GT REPORT starting at 8:20 with the qualifying session.
Please consider making a donation so we can keep bringing you our best content from the racetrack.
