AMG Customer Teams acting around the globe showed a high level of teamwork in the 2012 motorsports season. With 9 titles and 43 successes, the SLS AMG GT3 scored numerous impressive successes on four continents. One of the highlights is the winning of the driver and team title in the FIA GT3 European Championship for AMG Customer Team HEICO-Gravity Charouz, the winning of the driver and team title in the FIA GT1 World Championship by ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, the driver and team title in the ADAC GT Masters for kfzteile24 MS RACING Team as well as the championship title for PETRONAS Syntium Team in the Japanese Super Taikyu Series.

This Sunday, BVA Racing won the driver and team title in the Brazilian GT Championship at Autódromo de Interlagos in São Paolo. The driver duo Cleber Faria and Duda Rosa (both BRA) left its competitors behind in a fight that was commiting until the end and finally won with a lead of just one point compared with the second placed team. Their team colleagues Vanuê Faria and Renan Guerra (both BRA) crossed the finish line sixth. The AMG Customer Team A.Mattheis Motorsport with Sérgio Jimenez and Paolo Bonifácio (both BRA) won the third position in the championship.

The further statistics of the 2012 motorsports year for AMG Customer Sports is impressive as well:

• 43 class victories
• 109 podium positions
• 242 top ten positions
• 27 pole positions
• 48 SLS AMG GT3 started in 28 race series on four continents

Ola Källenius, chairman of the board, Mercedes-AMG GmbH: “We have the right to be proud of the successful 2012 AMG Customer Sports season. With 9 titles on the whole, including the winning of the World Championship, the European Championship and 43 successes we even outmatched the pleasing debut year of 2011. My congratulations go to all AMG Customer Teams which achieved these successes with the SLS AMG GT3 in the highly competitive race series on four continents.”

Uli Fritz, head of AMG Customer Sports: “Winning the title in Brazil is an enormously welcome ending of an exceptionally successful season. In the meantime, we have sold more than 50 units of the SLS AMG GT3, which has established itself by a constantly high performance and reliability in the international motorsports scene. I want to thank everyone participating in our AMG Customer Sports Programme. It is everybody’s turn now to concentrate on the 2013 season, because four race version gullwing cars will be starting in the Dubai 24 Hours already in the beginning of January.”

The successes in the individual race series at a glance:

FIA GT1 World Championship: By winning the driver and team rating, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport crowns the 2012 season in the FIA GT1 World Championship. Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock (both GER) won the driver title with a lead of just one point. The sister car with Thomas Jäger (GER) and Nicky Pastorelli (ITA) ended the World Championship season on the sixth position. ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport quickly established itself in the top group of the highly competitive World Championship and scored two titles through a constant team performance.

FIA GT3 European Championship: Maximilian Buhk (GER) and Dominik Baumann (AUT) from HEICO-Gravity Charouz secured the driver title in the penultimate race ahead of time. Their team colleagues Max Nilsson (SWE) and Mika Vähämäki (FIN) ended the FIA GT3 European Championship on the sixth position. Additionally, the AMG Customer Team succeeded in defending the team title it had already won in 2011. The Czech-German team won seven out of twelve races and thus showed a confident performance during the season.

ADAC GT Masters (Germany): With their victory in the commanding final race on Hockenheimring, Sebastian Asch and Maximilian Götz (both GER) won the driver title. The driver duo of kfzteile24 MS RACING Team was the most constant team of the entire season, winning eight podium positions and achieving the pole position two times. At the same time, in the last race of the season, the team achieved the first victory of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the highly competitive ADAC GT Masters 2012. The sister car with Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll (both GER) won the 22nd position in the championship.

HEICO Motorsport with Dominik Baumann and Hari Proczyk (both AUT), ended the championship on rank nine. Andreas Simonsen (SWE) and Maximilian Buhk (GER) from HEICO Junior Team finished eleventh. Alexandros Margaritis and Lance David Arnold (both GER) from Schöner Wohnen Polarweiss Team HEICO came 18th. Christiaan Frankenhout and Kenneth Heyer (both GER) from HEICO Motorsport achieved the 25th overall position.

Super Taikyu Series (Japan): Championship title for PETRONAS Syntium Team with the drivers Nobuteru Taniguchi and Dominic Ang (both JPN). Six class and overall successes each, six pole positions and 13 top ten positions confirm the good performance of the Japanese customer team. For the dominant team of the Japanese race series, this year’s winning the title was the fifth in a row.

Australian GT Championship: Winning of the runner-up spot for Peter Hackett (AUS) from Erebus Racing. With three victories and six further podium positions, Hackett was the best driver of a SLS AMG GT3 in the Australian GT Championship. His team colleague James Brock ended the season on the ninth position.

Iberian Supercars Trophy and Portugese GT Championship: Runner-up spot for José Pedro Fontes and Miguel Barbosa (both POR) from Sports & You team.

VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring (Germany): ROWE RACING scored two overall victories in nine races on the Nordschleife (“north loop”), three further podium positions and on the whole ten top ten positions. With these successes, the AMG Customer Team evolved into the best SLS AMG GT3 team of the series. The Black Falcon team achieved a victory in the VLN.

Blancpain Endurance Series: Black Falcon won the ProAM-Cup with the drivers Oliver Morley (GB), Steve Jans (LUX) and Sean Edwards (GB) in the race at Nürburgring and ended the season on rank twelve. KRK Racing won the tenth position in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

British GT-Championship: The twins David and Godfrey Jones (both GB) from the team Preci-Spark achieved five top ten positions.

DMV-TCC (Germany): Land Motorsport scored three class victories and three podium positions with Christian Land and Stefan Eilentropp (both GER). ANTeam with Bruno and Edwin Stucky (both SUI) won seven top ten positions.

Special Touring Car Trophy (Germany): A podium position for Norbert Janz (GER) from Seyffarth Motorsport.

Touring Car and GT-Cup Austria: One overall victory, a class victory and a pole position for Mario Plachutta (AUT) from Lechner Racing.

International GT Open: Kenneth Heyer and Jan Seyffarth (both GER) from Seyffarth Motorsport won the class GTS twice.

Super GT (Japan): Haruki Kurosawa, Hironori Takeuchi (both JPN) from the team GREEN TEC & LEON with Shift ended the races five times among the top ten and once on the second position.

Spanish GT Championship: The Vodafone Team with António Coimbra, Luis Silva, José Pedro Fontes (all ESP) won two top ten positions.

Italian GT Championship: Two top ten positions for Gianluca De Lorenzi and Piero Necchi (both ITA) from GDL Racing.

Endurance Champions Cup Italia, Peroni: A class victory for G-Private Racing with Philip and Manuel Zumstein as well as Jörg Peham (all SUI).

French GT Championship (FFSA): Four podium positions for Sebastién Loeb Racing with Frédéric Gabillon and Gilles Vannelet (both FRA).

Dubai 24 Hours: At the beginning of the 2012 motorsport season, AMG Customer Teams already scored a commanding 1-2-3: In the Dubai 24 Hours, the team Abu Dhabi Black Falcon with Thomas Jäger (GER), Sean Edwards (GB), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED) and Khaled Al Qubaisi (UAE) achieved the overall victory. The SLS AMG GT3 of HEICO Motorsport (Maximilian Buhk (GER), Christiaan Frankenhout (NED), Max Nilsson (SWE), Andreas Zuber (AUT) and Bernd Schneider (GER) as well as Kenneth Heyer (GER), Andreas Simonsen (SWE), Rodolfo Gonzalez (VEN) and Bernd Schneider (GER) came home second and third.

24 Hours Nürburgring: The gullwing car of HANKOOK Team HEICO Motorsport with the driver quartet Lance David Arnold (GER), Christiaan Frankenhout (NED), Pierre Kaffer (GER) and Andreas Simonsen (SWE), ended the 24-hour classic in the Eifel winning the third rank. The sister car retired from the race 15 minutes prior to end on the third position.

12 Hour race of Bathurst/Australia: The Australian Customer Team Erebus Racing with Peter Hackett (AUS), Tim Slade (AUS), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED) and Bret Curtis (USA) came home second in the endurance race.

12 Hour race of Sepang: In the12 Hour race of Sepang, the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race, PETRONAS Syntium Team achieved a double victory with the drivers Nobuteru Taniguchi (JPN), Masataka Yanagida (JPN) and Dominic Ang (MAS) as well as Tatsuya Kataoka (JPN), Farique Hairuman (MAS) and Melvin Moh (MAS).

Mercedes-AMG in Affalterbach honours AMG Customer Teams

AMG Customer Teams’ representatives from all over the world met at the big end of season party of the AMG Customer Sports Programme. Some 150 guests followed the invitation to Affalterbach in order to review the achievements of the 2012 season. After the official salutation by Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of Mercedes-AMG GmbH, the most successful teams of 2012 were honoured: from the award for the “Best Looking Car” (Premium Motorsport Poland) to the awards for the championship titles in various race series. The presenters, among them five-time DTM Champion Bernd Schneider, repeatedly underlined their high respect for the Customer Teams’ achievements. The winners of all nine categories at a glance:

• “FIA GT1World Championship”: ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
• “FIA GT3-European Championship”: HEICO-Gravity Charouz Team
• “ADAC GT Masters”: kfzteile24 MS RACING Team
• “Best Looking Car”: Premium Motorsports Poland
• “Best Newcomer”: BVA Racing
• “Best Gentleman Performance”: ANTeam
• “Best Endurance Race Performance”: ROWE RACING
• “Best 24h Performance”: Black Falcon

Lance David Arnold now member of AMG driver pool

As already in the 2012 season, AMG Customer Teams can also be strengthened through professional pilots from the AMG driver pool. Apart from Bernd Schneider, Thomas Jäger and Maro Engel, Lance David Arnold is from now on also part of the fast troop of Mercedes-AMG. The 26-year-old is another compassionate racer with gullwing car experience and endurance know-how who will assist the teams on request. The newest success of the driver originating from Duisburg, Germany, was the third rank in this year’s 24 Hours race at Nürburgring for the AMG Customer Team HANKOOK Team HEICO Motorsport. To participators of the AMG Driving Academy, Arnold is furthermore known as instructor.

Lance David Arnold: “Being part of the AMG driver pool is a great honour for me. A group, which one of my big role models in sports is also part of – the five-time DTM champion Bernd Schneider. I am already looking forward to my operations, in which I want to provide the customer teams not only with driving but also with technical knowledge in order to optimally develop the individual SLS AMG GT3 vehicles adjusted to the individual requirements of the respective teams.”

Uli Fritz: “I am very pleased about Lance David Arnold joining the AMG driver pool from now on. I am sure that his great know-how will be very helpful to our AMG Customer Teams. Due to his operations in the AMG Driving Academy, he has been part of the Mercedes-AMG family for quite some time.”

Six titles during three championships in one week: The success rate of AMG Customer Teams with the SLS AMG GT3 is very impressive. After Maximilian Buhk (GER) and Dominik Baumann (AUT) from the AMG Customer Team HEICO-Gravity Charouz won the driver and the team title in the FIA GT3 European Championship one week ago, kfzteile24 MS RACING Team won the driver and team title in the ADAC GT Masters. In the FIA GT1 Championship, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport also managed to win the driver and the team title.

Ola Källenius, Managing Director Mercedes-AMG GmbH: “Congratulations to the AMG Customer Teams that managed to accomplish a hat trick with the SLS AMG GT3 within one week. All of these excellent results are a perfect confirmation for our Customer Sports Programme.”

Victory, driver and team title in the ADAC GT Masters final

With their victory in the final race in the ADAC GT Masters on Hockenheimring, Sebastian Asch and Maximilian Götz (both GER) received the driver title. The driver duo of kfzteile24 MS RACING Team promisingly ranked on the third position in the first race on Saturday, when a tyre failure made them give up ten minutes prior to the end of the race. In the second race on Sunday, they started from the second position and took over the lead in lap 24. In the thrilling course of the race they managed to maintain their top position ahead of all competitors of the championship.

Asch / Götz was the most constant team of the entire season, they won podium positions eight times and achieved the pole position two times. At the same time, they achieved the first victory with a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters 2012. In the last race, Asch / Götz managed to convert a backlog of seven points in the championship ranking into a lead of 15 points. kfzteile24 MS RACING Team also came first in the team ranking. The sister car with Daniel Dobitsch and Florian Stoll (both GER), finished third on Saturday and had to retire from the race after a collision and a resulting tyre failure. At the end of the season, they rank on the 22nd championship position.

The good results in the ADAC GT Masters were rounded up by the second position for Dominik Baumann and Hari Proczyk (both AUT), who won the second place in the final race and the fourth place in the race on Saturday in the gullwing car of HEICO Motorsport. The Austrian driver duo ended the championship with the ninth position. Andreas Simonsen (SWE) and Maximilian Buhk (GER) ended the championship with the SLS AMG GT3 of the HEICO Junior Team on rank eleven, after positions 24 on Saturday and seven on Sunday. Alexandros Margaritis and Lance David Arnold (both GER) from the Schöner Wohnen Polarweiss Team HEICO achieved two fifth positions and end the ADAC GT Masters on rank 18. Christiaan Frankenhout and Kenneth Heyer (both GER) from HEICO Motorsport achieved places twelve and 13 in Hockenheim and come 25th in the overall ranking.

Sebastian Asch: “It is unbelievable! Yesterday, we were still very disappointed, ranking third after the failure. But again, it has become apparent that one must never give up and has to take all possible chances. Thanks to the entire team for their tireless efforts.”

Maximilian Götz: “I have tears in my eyes – we have won through our own strength. The winning of the title makes me very happy. I want to thank the entire team for their great work during the whole season!”

Harald Böttner, Team Manager kfzteile24 MS RACING Team: “A dream has come true by winning the driver and team title in the second season in the ADAC GT Masters. Sebastian and Maximilian were the most constant drivers of the entire season – and that they can even crown their title with a confident victory here in the final race in Hockenheim, adds to that joy. I want to thank all team members!”

Team and driver title in the FIA GT1 World Championship

With the victory in the team ranking, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport crowns the 2012 season in the FIA GT1 World Championship : After the last race in Donington Park (Great Britain), the team from Friedersdorf in Saxony confidently ranks on the first position with 245 points. Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock (both GER) won the driver title with a lead of only one point.

Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock came to the final of the FIA GT1 World Championship as leader of the standings with a lead of one point in the driver ranking. Basseng / Winkelhock ended the Qualifying Race on Saturday on the fifth position. The Championship Race on Sunday had a dramatic course: Shortly after the driver change from Marc Basseng to Markus Winkelhock, an accident between the SLS AMG GT3 and the BMW Z4 of Yelmer Buurman (NED) occurred while fighting on the track. After a consequent safety car phase, the race was ended ahead of time. Basseng and Winkelhock were deprived of the points from the Championship Race according to the decision of the Race Management – nevertheless, they won the FIA GT1 World Champion Title with a lead of one point.

The sister car with Thomas Jäger (GER) and Nicky Pastorelli (ITA) both ended the Championship Race and the Qualifying Race on the sixth position. In the driver ranking, the German-Italian driver duo also come sixth.

Markus Winkelhock, driver ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport: “In the direct fight with Yelmer Buurman we accidentally collided, which produced the accident. For me and my team colleagues, it is of major importance that Yelmer is fine, considering the circumstances. We all wish him a soon recovery.”

Marc Basseng, driver and Team Manager ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport: “I am really pleased about winning the driver and the team title. We have shown a very constant team performance during the entire season. It is a pity how the decision came up today. I am very glad that Yelmer Buurman is about to recover and I want to wish him well in the name of the entire team.”

Victory for Black Falcon with Schneider / Bleekemolen in the VLN

The penultimate race of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring, the ROWE 250 Miles Race, was accompanied by sunny late summer weather. Bernd Schneider (GER) and Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED) managed to win in the SLS AMG GT3 of the AMG Customer Team Black Falcon. For AMG brand ambassador Bernd Schneider, who started for Black Falcon as part of the AMG Driver Support, this victory was a special one: “The first position here on the Nürburgring is something exceptional for me, as it is my first victory ever with the SLS AMG GT3. In addition, I am very happy to have achieved my second overall win in the VLN after 1990! I want to thank the entire Black Falcon Team.”

The AMG Customer Team ROWE RACING with Marko Hartung, Nico Bastian (both GER) and Mark Bullit (USA) came home third. Consequently, two out of three race edition gullwing cars in starting positions have reached podium positions in the Eifel. The sister car of ROWE RACING with Roland Rehfeld, Jan Seyffarth, Maro Engel (all GER) had to end the race ahead of time due to an accident which was not self-inflicted. Maro Engel, who started for the first time for ROWE RACING in the VLN as part of the AMG Driver Support, could unfortunately not build up on the successful last race weekend of the Australian GT Championship. One week ago, the AMG brand ambassador won positions one and two in the SLS AMG GT3 of Erebus Racing.

Uli Fritz, Head of AMG Customer Sports: “Six titles in one week, the victory in the World and the European Championship as well as the ADAC GT Masters – the situation could hardly be better for AMG Customer Teams. The victory for Black Falcon in the ninth VLN race with Bernd Schneider and Jeroen Bleekemolen as drivers also shows the competitiveness of our race gullwing car.”

Following the successful conclusion of the development and test program, deliveries of the SLS AMG GT3 to customer teams are moving forward as planned. A total of 31 orders have been received for the 2011 racing season, and all the vehicles will be in the hands of the customers by early July. During configuration runs on the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet (France), the teams and racing drivers were able to familiarise themselves with the racing version of the gull-wing model and commence their setup work for the 2011 motor sport season. Bernd Schneider, five-time DTM Champion for Mercedes-Benz, and Thomas Jäger, also a Mercedes-Benz DTM driver from 2000 to 2003, were on hand together with the AMG Customer Sports Team to provide knowledgeable support.

“This year the SLS AMG GT3 will appear in numerous national and international race series. All our AMG personnel are looking forward to this immensely,” says Ola Källenius, General Manager of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. “With the SLS AMG GT3, AMG is once again demonstrating its enormous experience from more than 40 years of motorsport, and its great expertise in the development of unique high-performance cars.”

The focus of the configuration runs in Le Castellet was not only on different suspension and aerodynamic setups, as the engineers and technicians also had the opportunity to practice pitstops and tyre-changes by way of intensive preparation for the 2011 motorsport season. And it was not only technical aspects that were important during the two-day event in Le Castellet, as an attractive media and PR package was also presented for the customer teams and drivers. Professional photographers and film teams produced extensive material which will be freely available to the teams during the 2011 season.

Backup by the AMG Customer Sports Team during the season

The AMG Customer Sports Team will also give support to the customer teams on matters of servicing and replacement parts within Europe. This support concept for the 2011 motorsport season envisages comprehensive backup during the ADAC GT Masters, the Nürburgring VLN Endurance Championship, the FIA GT3 European Championship and the 24-hour races at Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium). A 24-hour parts service and a technical hotline will be provided for all other racing events and test runs. As the AMG customer sports coordinator, Thomas Jäger will support the teams and provide a central point of contact for all organisational and technical matters.

Expert support from Bernd Schneider and Thomas Jäger

During the rollout event in Le Castellet organised by Mercedes-AMG, record-holding DTM Champion Bernd Schneider and Thomas Jäger were on hand to give advice and assistance to the teams. Schneider and Jäger have absolved the entire development and test programme for the SLS AMG GT3, and took part in four races with it in autumn 2010 and January 2011. With one victory and two third places, the racing version of the gull-wing model amply demonstrated its potential.

In 2011 a total of 16 customer teams from 8 nations will be at the starting lines with the SLS AMG GT3:

• Black Falcon (Germany)
• Eurotech Racing (Great Britain)
• G-Private Racing (Germany)
• Graff Racing (France)
• Gravity Charouz Racing (Czech Republic)
• Heico Motorsport (Germany)
• Horn Motorsport (Germany)
• Mamerow Racing (Germany)
• MS RACING (Germany)
• Petronas Syntium Team (Malaysia)
• Preci-Spark (Great Britain)
• Race & Event GmbH (Germany)
• ROWE RACING (Germany)
• Sports & You (Portugal)
• Viage KRK Racing (Belgium)
• Vodka O Racing (Australia)

Well-known drivers in the racing gull-wing will include Kenneth Heyer (Wegberg, 31, Black Falcon), Lance David Arnold (Duisburg, 24, Heico Motorsport), Olivier Panis (France, 44, Graff Racing), Jarek Janis (Czech Republic, 27, Gravity Charouz Racing) and Anthony Kumpen (Belgium, 32, Viage KRK Racing).

In 2011 the SLS AMG GT3 will compete in 14 different race series conducted under FIA GT3 rules in 8 countries, and the race calendar also includes three prestigious 24-hour races.

• ADAC GT Masters (Germany)
• Nürburgring VLN Endurance Championship (Germany)
• Nürburgring 24-hour race (Germany)
• Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race (Belgium)
• Silverstone 24-hour race (Great Britain)
• FIA GT3 European Championship
• GT3 Endurance Series
• British GT Masters (Great Britain)
• Britcar GT Championship (Great Britain)
• FFSA GT Series (France)
• Czech Endurance Championship
• Belcar (Belgium)
• Spanish and Portuguese GT Championship
• Australian GT Championship

The racing version of the SLS AMG is developed and produced by AMG in close collaboration with HWA AG. The HWA team is one of the most successful in international motorsport, as witness 10 driver’s titles in the DTM and ITC, as well as two FIA GT Championship titles. No other brand has won as many DTM races and DTM titles as AMG-Mercedes.

The SLS AMG GT3 is built by HWA AG, while its AMG 6.3-litre V8 engine is produced in the AMG custom shop. Both the car and engine are assembled completely by hand.