Engel: N24 Win a ‘Weight Off Shoulders’ for Mercedes-AMG

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

Maro Engel said helping guide Mercedes-AMG back to the top step of the podium at the Nürburgring 24 after a ten-year win drought takes the “weight off all our shoulders.”

Engel and co-drivers Luca Stolz, Maxime Martin and Fabian Schiller emerged victorious after a commanding run by the German manufacturer, which appeared to be en route to a historic 1-2 finish in the Eifel endurance classic.

While the No. 3 Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo led from the overnight hours after an initial hard-fought battle between the two Winward Racing-run machines, a driveshaft failure for the Max Verstappen co-driven car with less than four hours to go handed the lead and eventual win to Engel’s No. 80 Ravenol-sponsored entry.

“At some point, the focus shifted towards, ‘Ok we need to make sure we get the cars to the finish,'” Engel told Sportscar365.

“Our main task at that point was to ensure we reduce any stress for the car, so we drifted a little bit away from the sister car.

“I have to say I really feel for them. The four of them drove amazing and they would have deserved the win for sure.

“I think they had it in their hand. But, as I said before this weekend, especially at the Nürburgring, you need that little bit of luck on your side. We just had that today.

“It’s one of those races where can put all the prep in, you can have all the ingredients, but you cannot force it. Things have to come your way and today was one of those days where it came our way.”

It came as a landmark second N24 win for both Engel and the Mercedes-AMG GT3, which last triumphed in the 2016 race aboard a Black Falcon-run machine with co-drivers Bernd Schneider, Adam Christodoulou and Manuel Metzger.

For Engel, it was also redemption after Mercedes-AMG’s most tenured driver suffered an accident in Friday’s Top Qualifying that resulted in a car rebuild and starting from 25th on the grid.

“It’s an amazing feeling, one that I think takes the weight off all our shoulders at Mercedes-AMG Motorsport because it’s been a long ten years,” said Engel. “We had opportunities and we didn’t manage to get it done, came close, had some heartbreaks.

“To finally take this win back to Affalterbach, for me, my second win, is an incredible feeling.

“I can’t thank the team enough because, after my mistake from Friday, they really had a lot of work to do and they put the car back into perfect shape.

“They’re the best team in pit lane and they proved it by giving us an amazing car.

“The race was incredible. My teammates drove their hearts out and did such a good job. It was a real pleasure to share the car and I’m just proud to share this win with them.”

When asked about his early race charge through the field, Engel said he knew he couldn’t lose too much time in traffic.

“It’s also where the risk is highest, when you’re battling,” he said. “So I tried to make my way through one by one and felt quite soon that we had a strong car as we had in practice and just tried to make moves moving forward.

“I didn’t know where we were until I jumped out of the car and saw where Maxime was and then I looked at the pit times and we were already basically within the top-five.

“That felt really good to make that connection with the lead group quite early. Then Maxime drove amazing in his two stints and really brought us into the podium area.

“Fabian and Luca taking over, it was pretty much the perfect race for us.

“We said before the race, ‘Let’s try with this weather to be on the right tire as much as possible because it always won’t be possible.’

“But I honestly think we managed all the time to be on the right tire and that’s a credit to the team, the engineering team and to everyone at Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.”

Engel: “Great Fun” Battle With Verstappen More of a “Misunderstanding”

One of the more dramatic moments of the race came just prior to halfway when Engel and four-time Formula 1 world champion Verstappen made contact while battling for the lead through Tiergarten, with Engel forced to take to the grass.

“That was a little bit of a ‘wake-up moment’,” said Engel. “It was amazing fun to drive with Max at night on the Nordschleife and I think we both really enjoyed that.

“Obviously his driving was incredible. It was a bit of a misunderstanding with the lapped traffic, so I had to put two wheels on the grass.

“Luckily, no harm done. We laughed about it after. I’m sure the team was a little bit more stressed than we were, and they were happy to calm things down a little bit after that.

“But it was great fun and I think that’s what racing is about.”

Stephen Lickorish contributed to this report

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