24 Hours of Spa: Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER clinches second place in extreme conditions

Mercedes-AMG’s customer racing squad MANN-FILTER delivered a flawless performance to secure second place overall in the grueling 78th CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. Driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #48, Lucas Auer (AUT), Maro Engel (GER) and Luca Stolz (GER) completed 541 laps to claim the team’s first podium finish in the endurance classic since 2023. The trio’s achievement came amid punishing track temperatures above 30 °C and relentless on-track pressure that forced nearly half of the 69 GT3 starters to retire. Stolz added a third Spa top-three finish to his tally, Engel his second, while Auer stood on the podium for the first time in the Belgian classic. Starting from sixth on the grid, Winward Racing’s operational crew made the right tactical calls during multiple Full-Course-Yellow phases early in the race, catapulting the #48 into the lead group. Six hours before the flag, the top four cars were separated by just two seconds in a tight fight for the win. Stolz held the lead for several stints until an overcut during a pit stop dropped the AMG back to second. From that point on, Auer, Engel and Stolz repelled repeated attacks from rivals, keeping the car flawless and the position intact to the checkered flag. The result also marked the team’s third second-place finish of the season in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. In the PRO-AM class, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #999 fielded by GetSpeed Team PCX Racing took third, giving Jordan Boisson (FRA), Patrick Charlaix (CAN), Marvin Klein (FRA) and Benjamin Paque (BEL) a class podium on their Spa debut. Mercedes-AMG’s campaign was marred by retirements: Team Verstappen Racing’s #3 was forced to park after a nighttime incident at the pit entrance damaged a component and disrupted engine cooling, while GetSpeed’s #17 retired after a misunderstanding led to a suspension failure. The extreme heat also claimed the #12 (GetSpeed Team Dubai), #33 (2 Seas Motorsport) and #177 (Grupo Prom Racing). Stefan Wendl, Head of Customer Racing at Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, called it one of the toughest second-place finishes the squad has ever earned, praising the team’s zero-penalty, zero-damage run over twelve hours. Driver Lucas Auer echoed the sentiment, highlighting the squad’s resilience under relentless pressure and the physical toll of the conditions. The victory went to Lionspeed and Porsche, with the German marque sealing a commanding win in the overall classification.