At the kick-off of the 2024 DTM in Oschersleben, Austrian Lucas Auer scored two valuable points in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER.

A total of 42,000 fans in Oschersleben Motorsport Arena witnessed a solid start to the 2024 DTM season. And, during the opening weekend, the Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER left it in no doubt that the yellow-green Mamba and its driver Lucas Auer were on the road in Beast Mode from the first second of the race—even if the race results were characterized by a lot of bad luck, especially in the second race on Sunday.

Auer and his equally ambitious team were not completely satisfied with sixth place in Saturday’s race. But after a red flag in the morning qualifying session put the brakes on the 29-year-old Tyrolean’s drive at the worst possible moment and relegated the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 22 to eighth on the grid, the one-hour chase on the 3.6-kilometre circuit in the Magdeburger Börde at least went off without a hitch.

Unfortunately, Sunday turned out to be more complicated than expected. In qualifying, Auer couldn’t manage to get the tires of his 550 hp racer to the perfect temperature window and had to settle for starting position 13. And in the race, the Mamba was involved in a collision in the third turn that was not Auer’s fault, after he was unable to avoid a spinning Ferrari directly ahead of him. “Luggi” continued to fight relentlessly and ultimately finished in 11th place at the wheel of the heavily damaged Mamba.

“All in all, it was a solid start to the season,” said the driver from Kufstein. “After having struggled in the free training sessions on Friday, we gradually improved over the weekend. I was happy with my Saturday race. The crew did a great pit stop, the pace was okay. On Sunday, we were simply not fast enough to qualify. After the collision in turn three, it was all about getting the damaged car to the finish line in some way or another. And in the end, we scored two important points. Who knows how useful they will prove to be?”

WINWARD Racing team principal Christian Hohenadel praised, above all, the fighting spirit of his Mamba team: “For Luggi, of course, I’m sorry that the collision on Sunday left him unable to compete for the win, but these things occasionally happen in racing. He earned my utmost respect for getting the battered car over the line and winning some points. On Saturday, he also delivered an impeccable performance. I am certain that we will see the MANN-FILTER Mamba on the podium in the near future.”

Filippina Manou, MANN-FILTER Sponsoring Manager, also drew an overall positive conclusion from the DTM’s opening weekend: “WINWARD Racing delivered first-class motorsport. Sixth place on Saturday was more than a solid start to the season for the Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER. And what more can I say after Luggi’s performance on Sunday despite the front of the Mamba almost coming off? The yellow-green TV images once again showed what a great athlete is sitting at the wheel of the Mamba. Plus stands full of petrol heads—that’s where we at MANN-FILTER feel at home.”