No. 77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG Loses All Qualifying Times

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

The No. 77 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which set the fastest three-driver average in qualifying, will start from the rear of the grid for tomorrow’s Suzuka 1000km after the car was found to have been underweight.

Confirmed in a stewards’ decision late Saturday, the Kaku Ohta, Maxime Martin and Luca Stolz-driven Mercedes-AMG was underweight by 2.5 kgs in post-qualifying scrutineering.

It means the car will now start from the back of the 30-car field for the penultimate round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge season.

While having set the quickest average lap in qualifying, the Pro class entry was already facing a three-position grid penalty due to Ohta having exceeded the 80 km/h speed limit during a red flag in Friday’s night practice.

The initial penalty, which was known since last night, had already promoted the No. 64 Miedecke Motorsport by Team MPC Ford Mustang GT3 EVO to the pole position for tomorrow’s race.

However, the latest penalty comes as a bitter blow for Mercedes-AMG factory drivers Martin and Stolz, who sit second and third in the IGTC drivers’ championship behind Maro Engel, who has been forced to miss the final two rounds of the season due to clashing DTM races.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John