Mercedes-AMG stars Maro Engel and Lucas Auer: rivals and partners

They’re title rivals in the DTM, but teammates in the GT World Challenge. Maro Engel and Lucas Auer explain how this situation works.

“We’ve been doing this for three years now,” explains the 40-year-old from Munich, “we know each other very well; in the DTM we talk to each other a bit less, but in the GT World Challenge, of course, a lot more! Joking aside: we rate each other very highly. I know that Luggi’s always on top form. If you want to beat him, you have to give it your all. In the DTM, everyone’s fighting for themselves and their team, but celebrating successes together is really lovely.” Auer (31) from Kufstein agrees: “It’s an interesting dynamic. If there’s an incident in the DTM and the GT World Challenge follows on from it, we don’t speak until Wednesday – things are a bit frosty then. On Thursday, there’s a bit of chat again, and from Friday onwards we’re a team once more. We hold each other in extremely high regard. In endurance racing, it’s absolutely vital to have a perfect team and a perfect co-driver.”

Most recently, a second-place finish in the season’s most important GT3 race at Spa-Francorchamps saw them finish just behind the winning trio – so was it a case of mixed feelings? Engel comments: “Second place at Spa was a great result, even though we were only twelve seconds off the win. But we knew we didn’t quite have the pace of the winning car, so that narrow margin was a result we were proud of. It’s a shame I couldn’t win at Spa as well after the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. I would have been the first since Bernd Schneider in 2013 to win both classics in the same year. The important thing was that we scored vital points for the GT World Challenge standings.” Auer adds: “I’m still smiling because it was a superb race for us. And second place is a fantastic result for the championship! The twelve seconds we were short of victory aren’t a big deal. The gap could have been even bigger.”

Engel assesses the situation in the DTM title race as follows: “There are still plenty of challenges ahead in the second half of the season; everyone is very close together. At the moment, you can’t rule anyone out of the title race. It’s going to remain very exciting.” And Auer: “The field has been very strong since 2022; we’re competing in a top-flight championship. I don’t see any advantages or disadvantages for the second half of the season; the Mercedes-AMG is an all-rounder.”

Auer’s AMG contract expires this year. “It’s still too early to talk about the future. I’ve spent nine of my eleven years as a professional with Mercedes-AMG, albeit in different roles,” says the Tyrolean. I can’t do any more than the DTM and the GT World Challenge, so I’ll be sticking to the season opener in Florida in the US: “The Daytona win was a one-off, but I’ve got a packed schedule and can’t take on any more races in the US. Overall, I really enjoy endurance racing. In the IMSA, it’ll just be this one race and (laughs) a 100 per cent win rate!”

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And what does Luggi have to say about his young cousin Johan Berger? “I’ve watched a few videos of him, but I’ve never had the chance to see him race in person. I’ve definitely made a point of doing that, though. In any case, I’m delighted that there’ll be a new generation of us.”