Tales from the paddock – Maximilian Götz: “We’ll be doing everything we can to win our class”

There are not one but two highlights on the motor racing calendar for next weekend: the Hungarian Grand Prix and the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps.

• This is what happened: Weekend results and facts
• News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
• Three questions for Maximilian Götz
• Social media news: What's new online?
• This week's important dates and events

This is what happened: Results and facts

• DTM: Maro Engel secures maiden DTM victory in Race 2 at the Moscow Raceway
• ADAC GT Masters: Indy Dontje and Marvin Kirchhöfer on the podium after Saturday's race at Zandvoort
• Super GT: Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Björn Wirdheim win at Murata (Japan) in a Mercedes-AMG GT3

News snippets

On to Hungary: Prior to the short summer break in August, the Silver Arrows will be contesting the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend. For Lewis Hamilton, the Hungaroring on the outskirts of Budapest brings back many pleasant memories: after all, he is a record winner on this track with five victories to his credit. Last year, he won there ahead of Nico Rosberg in a one-two finish for the team. Over the years, Mercedes-powered cars have registered ten victories, ten pole positions and 18 podium finishes at the Hungaroring.

Half-term report: The race weekend in Moscow marked the halfway point in the 2017 DTM season. Mercedes-AMG Motorsport have so far secured three pole positions and four victories, putting them on level pegging with Audi. Only three drivers have managed more than one win: Lucas Auer (at Hockenheim and the Lausitzring), Jamie Green and René Rast. Paul Di Resta (Budapest) and Maro Engel (Moscow) have won one race each. Mercedes-AMG is consequently the only manufacturer to have had three different winners this season. In addition, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport is the only team which has had all six of its drivers on the podium at least once this year. Most of those podium appearances were made by Lucas Auer - he was involved in three champagne showers.

Two start-to-finish victories: Oscar Tunjo (COL) continues his run of success in the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy (Special Touring Car Trophy - STT): the Colombian started the 30-minute race at Zandvoort in Holland from pole position in the number 70 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and made it two lights-to-flag wins out of two. In the second of these races, the Kornely Motorsport driver even shrugged off a drive-through penalty. The double triumph on the circuit in the North Sea dunes constituted wins five and six in the eight races contested so far this year. The 21-year-old continues to hold a commanding lead in the junior series.

Impressive charge through the field rewarded with first place in the Super GT: The customer racing team GAINER celebrated a victory in the Super GT Series on the SUGO Sportsland circuit. In a tour de force of overtaking, Katsuyuki Hiranaka (JPN) and Björn Wirdheim (SWE) driving the number 11 Mercedes-AMG GT3 secured first place in the prestigious Japanese racing series. Starting the two-hour race from 17th, Wirdheim moved up to sixth during his stint. Thanks to a perfect pit stop strategy and some luck in the timing of the safety car deployments, the team subsequently made further progress. In his final stint, Hiranaka overtook one more opponent to comfortably seal the win. Meanwhile, the GOODSMILE RACING pairing of Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka (both JPN) in the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 were finishing fourth. At the midway point in the season, GAINER (Hiranaka/Wirdheim) and GOODSMILE RACING (Taniguchi/Kataoka) share the second spot in the Super GT team and drivers' championships. There are still four race weekends remaining: Fuji (5th - 6th August), Suzuka (26th - 27th August), Thailand (7th - 8th October) and the grand finale at Motegi (11th - 12th November).

Three questions for Maximilian Götz

Maximilian, you were competing in the ADAC GT Masters at Zandvoort (Netherlands) last weekend. How do you feel now as you prepare for the 24-hour race at Spa (26th - 30th July, Belgium)?

Maximilian Götz: Yes, exactly, I drove my mobile home straight from Zandvoort to Spa. The result at Zandvoort was not all that good. We had quite a bit of bad luck, unfortunately. But the pace was excellent - we were actually leading in the second race by a big margin. I was putting in very fast lap times, especially in the rain. Consequently, I'm now hoping for a bit of rain in Spa too.

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps seems to suit you, as recent years have shown.

Maximilian Götz: I have very fond memories of Spa. In 2013, Maximilian Buhk, Bernd Schneider and I won the race in our SLS AMG GT3. Last year, too, it started off very well with us taking pole position, which was subsequently disallowed. We eventually finished fifth after staging an impressive charge through the field. The circuit in the Ardennes is one of my favourites, and the 24 Hours of Spa is one of the biggest races in the world. It's also definitely the toughest GT3 race with a field of around 64 cars. I am very pleased to be part of this afternoon's parade to Spa to get the event underway.

This year, you're driving for Team BLACK FALCON for the first time. What are your expectations?

Maximilian Götz: I'm really looking forward to being part of this team and to joining up with my co-drivers. Obviously, we already know each other because I was there at Spa for the test week in early July. But the race itself is always quite different. I'm feeling upbeat, though, and I'm looking forward to working with them all. It's important to get the event off to a good start. On Thursday, we have our first free practice and then two qualifying sessions in the evening. That's when we need to refine our routines and secure as good a grid position as possible for the race. Together with Marvin Kirchhöfer (GER), Oliver Morley (GBR) and Miguel Toril (ESP), I'll be driving the number 16 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Pro-Am class and we'll be doing everything we can to win our class.

Social Media News

#StrategyAnalysis: This time, we have a very special surprise in our strategy analysis after the race in Silverstone: live fan questions!

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dQpvuqAdfM

#HomeWin: What a day! What a spectacular performance! Lewis Hamilton has won his home race at Silverstone for the fifth time. This is how he spent that amazing day...

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuh3nghYcT0

#PinkPanther: Lucas Auer and Edoardo Mortara took the opportunity to do some sightseeing in the Russian capital ahead of the race weekend at the Moscow Raceway. Two 'Pink Panthers' in Moscow...

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDLeJ_msJi0

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