AMG clinches second podium position in a row!

• Team Erebus Racing from Australia claims second position after an exciting finish
• Team Black Falcon retires from race after accident
   
  

Bathurst (AUS) – In today's Bathurst 12 Hour Race in Australia, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 has finished in the second place. The Australian customer team of Erebus Racing with its drivers Peter Hackett (AUS), Tim Slade (AUS), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED) and Bret Curtis (USA) came home second after having driven 270 race laps. Having started from 6th place on the grid, starting number 20 took over the lead for the first time in the third hour of the race on a wet track. In an exciting battle against other GT3 cars, the gullwing car of the customer sports team of Erebus was able to constantly hold on to a position no lower than the top three. The Bathurst 12 Hour remained a narrow decision until the very end. The two leading cars remained in the same lap and the time difference with which they crossed the finish line was only 1.13 minutes.

The endurance race on Circuit Mount Panorama, which is 6,213 kilometres long, was marked by the difficult weather conditions, a large number of incidents and many safety car phases. The traditional hilly track is located in the State of New South Wales, with a distance of approximately 200 kilometres west of Sydney, the biggest city in Australia.

Peter Hackett (AUS): "I am very happy about the second place. Our SLS AMG GT3 delivered a convincing top performance facing the wet conditions on the track. The car ran like clockwork and was completely reliable. We did not get involved in any of the incidents and drove a constant race with a great race strategy and fantastic pit stops. The co-operation with Black Falcon from Germany worked very well since both teams complemented each other perfectly."

Tim Slade (AUS): "It was a great challenge with a narrow finish here on Circuit Mount Panorama in Bathurst. During the entire race we competed with the other GT3 cars on a high level. I want to thank the whole team for this cohesive performance."

Black Falcon’s SLS AMG GT3 retired from race after accident

The second SLS AMG GT3 of the customer team Black Falcon with Rob Wilson (NZ), Sean Patrick Breslin (GB), Sean Paul Breslin (GB) and Vimal Mehta (TZA) started from 9th place on the grid and had no difficulties in claiming one of the top positions among the fastest cars in the race. After an hour, starting number 21 had to make a pit stop because of a problem with the rear suspension. After having been repaired successfully, the gullwing car of Black Falcon carried on driving. However, due to an accident in the 52nd lap, the race came to an end after three hours. Thanks to the exemplary safety level, which is currently not reached by any other GT3 car, the driver Sean Patrick Breslin was unharmed.

Most successful newcomer in the 2011 motor sport season

The Bathurst 12 Hour was the second podium position in a row for the AMG Customer Sports programme. In the Dubai 24 Hours race (12th to 14th January 2012) the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 scored a commanding 1-2-3 with Abu Dhabi by Black Falcon at the top.

In its debut year of 2011, the Gullwing became probably the most successful newcomer in the 2011 motorsport season: from March 2011 on 40 race cars were delivered to international customer teams that took part in races on four continents and won a total of 26 races. The success story was crowned by the team title of the FIA GT3 European Championship for HEICO Motorsport and its two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 – the first title for the Gullwing in its first full racing season.

Barcelona Test, Day Four

Nico Rosberg concluded this week’s test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona for the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team today.

• Nico began the day with in and out laps for pit stop practice over a total of 17 laps
• Milder temperatures allowed his race simulation to begin at 10:48, although this was interrupted halfway through by a red flag
• The race simulation was conducted using hard compound Pirelli tyres; the team primarily ran soft tyres during the afternoon
• Work this afternoon focused on set-up comparisons over runs of around 10 timed laps

Nico completed 139 laps in the F1 W03 today, equivalent to 647 km. By way of comparison, this approached Nico’s total of 161 laps over the entire Spanish Grand Prix weekend in 2011. The F1 W03 has now covered 2420 km in winter testing, over five official test days and two 100 km filming days. This equates to a daily average of 444 km during the test days, with Michael and Nico running for over 100 laps on Thursday and Friday respectively.

The next test for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS will take place at the Circuit de Catalunya from Thursday 1 to Sunday 4 March.

Nico Rosberg

“After our first full test with the F1 W03, I can see that we are making good steps forward. Our test programme went well this week and we have made evident progress each day. In terms of reliability, the car is performing pretty much as we expected which is really important as we can concentrate on improving the performance. Of course it’s difficult at this stage to predict how we will fare in race conditions against our competitors but overall I’m pleased with the start that we have made. I’m looking forward to the final test next week before the season begins, and continuing our learning with our F1 W03.

Ross Brawn

“We have had a very positive first week of running with the F1 W03. After five full test days, we have completed over 2000 km, Nico and Michael have done consistent mileage and reliability has been ok, aside from a couple of problems earlier in the week. Both drivers have already completed full race simulations, and this really is a tribute to all the hard work that was done back at base in Brackley and Brixworth to ensure we hit the ground running this year with the new car - as well as to the efforts of our day and night shifts at the track in Barcelona. This basis means that the drivers and engineers have been able to work well with the car rather than chasing problems, and next week we hope to focus even more on getting performance out of our current package. Overall, we are in a reasonable position, but I don’t for a moment believe we have achieved our objectives yet. It may be something of a winter testing cliché, but there is still an awful lot to be done, and it's far too early to make any kind of judgement about our competitiveness.”

TIMES 

Pos Driver Car Time Laps 1. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:22.312 144
2. Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:22.561 134
3. Paul Di Resta Force India 1:23.119 101
4. Jenson Button McLaren 1:23.200 115
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:23.563 103
6. Mark Webber Red Bull 1:23.774 85
7. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:23.792 92
8. Nico Rosberg MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS 1:23.843 139 9. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:26.968 70

Karl Wendlinger

Racing driver Karl Wendlinger (Austria) is now part of the Mercedes-AMG team. The 43 year-old will be on hand at AMG events as a new AMG brand ambassador, alongside DTM championship record holder Bernd Schneider and David Coulthard. Karl Wendlinger will also be bolstering the team at the AMG Driving Academy as an instructor and supporting the SLS AMG GT3 Customer Sport teams.

Karl Wendlinger

SLS AMG GT3 customer teams can book Karl Wendlinger for test or racing sessions as part of the driver support programme from AMG Customer Sports and draw on his great knowledge as a sports car expert. The 43 year-old will be supporting his colleagues Bernd Schneider and Thomas Jäger, who have accompanied the SLS AMG GT3 throughout its entire development and testing programme. Jäger has been working as a coordinator for AMG Customer Sports since 2010.

In his new role for Mercedes-AMG, Karl Wendlinger will be on hand as a point of contact at press and customer events. As a new member of the AMG Driving Academy's team of instructors, he will also be on location at race tracks. Here too, he will join forces with Bernd Schneider and Thomas Jäger, who belong to the AMG Driving Academy's core team, along with Bernd Mayländer (driver of the official F1™ Safety Car).

Return to the Mercedes fold

For Karl Wendlinger, this collaboration marks a return to the Mercedes fold: from 1990 to 1991 the Austrian was a member of the Mercedes junior team competing in the sports car world championship along with Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. In 1991 he switched to Formula 1. In 1994, Wendlinger raced for the Sauber-Mercedes team alongside Heinz-Harald Frentzen. "I'm happy to be returning to the Mercedes family," says Karl Wendlinger. "I'm looking forward to many joint projects with AMG. I'm relishing the opportunity to work alongside Bernd Schneider, Thomas Jäger and David Coulthard at selected AMG events."

"We are proud to welcome such a successful racing driver as Karl Wendlinger to the AMG team," says Ola Källenius, Chairman of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. "Karl Wendlinger is the likeable sort of character with whom people are keen to talk at our AMG events. His comprehensive technical knowledge and driving expertise will also be a boon to the AMG Driving Academy and the SLS AMG GT3 customer teams."

Successful career in sports car racing

Karl Wendlinger's motor sport career began in go-carting at the age of 14. In 1989 he won the German Formula 3 Championship. He subsequently competed in the DTM, Formula 3000 and the 24-hour Le Mansrace. After retiring from Formula 1, Karl Wendlinger raced in various touring and sports car series. His most outstanding successes on the race track include winning the FIA GT Championship (1999), 1st place in the 24-hour Le Mans race in the GTS-Class (in the same year), overall victory in the 24-hour Daytona racein 2000 and 2nd place in the 24-hour Nürburgring race (2003). Karl Wendlinger raced for various teams in the FIA GT Championship from 2004 to 2011. In 2007 he was runner-up with Jetalliance Racing.