Silver medal for SPS Automotive Performance at the FIA Motorsport Games 30.10.2022: SPS automotive performance secured the silver medal in the GT Cup for Team Germany at the FIA Motorsport Games on Circuit Paul Ricard with its drivers Valentin Pierburg and Fabian Schiller (both GER) in the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

SPS automotive performance secured the silver medal in the GT Cup for Team Germany at the FIA Motorsport Games on Circuit Paul Ricard with its drivers Valentin Pierburg and Fabian Schiller (both GER) in the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3.


Luca Stolz (GER), who lined up for Germany in the highly competitive GT Sprint Cup, narrowly missed out on the medals with fourth place. The #54 Mercedes-AMG GT3 entered by the Willsbach-based team from Team Suisse also performed respectably. In the GT Cup, Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler (both SUI) finished fifth. Mettler, who also raced in the GT Sprint Cup, finished in the top ten in that competition.



Already in the two one-hour qualifying races of the GT Cup, in which one driver with bronze and one with silver classification shared the wheel of their cars, the German team showed that it is one of the medal candidates this weekend. Valentin Pierburg and Fabian Schiller decided both heats confidently in their favor and thus secured pole position for the decisive main race on Saturday afternoon.


At the start of the main race, which was also scheduled for 60 minutes, Valentin Pierburg initially had to give way to some stronger silver drivers and after a few laps settled into fifth overall position. Right at the beginning of the pit stop window Pierburg headed for the pits and handed over the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to his teammate Fabian Schiller. After all mandatory pit stops had been completed, the black-red-gold Mercedes-AMG GT3 was in third place. Schiller set off on an incredible race to catch up during his stint.



With the fastest laps in this race, the young man from the Rhineland made up a gap of around 30 seconds and was only just under four seconds behind the leader in the closing stages of this race. Everything indicated that Schiller could take the lead with his pace in the final laps.




However, about five minutes before the end of the race a safety car phase was called due to an incident, which neutralized the race. This marked an abrupt end to Fabian Schiller's catch-up chase. Behind the safety car, the #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3 crossed the finish line in second place and claimed the silver medal in this discipline for Team Germany.



Dexter Müller and Yannick Mettler, who had started for Team Suisse, once again showed their comeback qualities, as they did in the past season of the International GT Open. After a number of unforced contacts in the qualifying races, the duo initially fell back, but fought their way back into the leading group time and again to claim a good fifth grid position for the main race.


Here, too, the scenario from the qualifying races was repeated. In the early stages, starting driver Dexter Müller was involved in many duels in the midfield, lost positions through non-culpable contact with his competitors and dropped out of the top ten at first. But the #54 Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Dexter Müller at the wheel, was already gaining back several places before handing over to Yannick Mettler at the mandatory pit stop.



Mettler continued his teammate's race to catch up and once again fought his way back into the leading group. At the end of the race, Mettler was in fifth place and thus ensured a more than respectable result for the Swiss team.



In the GT Sprint discipline, in which only one race lasting one hour was scheduled, Luca Stolz started for the German team on Sunday. In qualifying, Stolz achieved third place on the grid as the best Mercedes-AMG driver and thus had good chances of winning a medal. At the start of the race, Luca Stolz initially settled into fifth place after a turbulent start with several contacts and shifts in position.


Stolz fought for positions in the leading group for a long time, but after a long battle moved up to fourth position just above twenty minutes before the end of the race. With fast lap times, Stolz tried to close the gap to the medal ranks in the final phase of the race. However, due to the previous duel, the gap to the leaders had already become too large to be able to intervene in the fight for the podium. Luca Stolz crossed the finish line in fourth position as the best Mercedes-AMG driver.



For the Swiss, Yannick Mettler was once again at the wheel to fight for the medals in this highly competitive discipline. Starting from eleventh on the grid, Mettler had to hold his own against some of the world's best GT drivers. Already on the first lap, Mettler made up ground and was in eighth place in the early stages. The Swiss defended his position in long duels but was finally forced to give way to some of his competitors. After one hour, the #54 Mercedes-AMG GT3 claimed tenth position in the final race of the FIA Motorsport Games.



As the best-placed team with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 and a medal won, a positive summary of this weekend can definitely be drawn. But the season is not over yet for SPS automotive performance. In December, the final of the Intercontinental GT Challenge will be held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.



Yannick Mettler, Team Suisse, #54 Mercedes-AMG GT3: "At first we had to get used to the Pirelli tires, on which we had no experience. But the learning curve was quite steep and things went better and better for us, although we weren't quite as happy with the pace on these tires. We can live very well with fifth place in the GT Cup. In the sprint race I was initially in P8, but had to give up this position again due to a small problem. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun. We definitely want to come back."



Luca Stolz, Team Germany, #20 Mercedes-AMG GT3: "We had a good qualifying and were quite happy with P3. Unfortunately, I had contact at the start and lost two places as a result. After that, I couldn't get past the car in front of me for a very long time, even though I was clearly faster. That ultimately cost us a better position. Nevertheless, many thanks to the whole team. A mega job from everyone."



Stephan Sohn, team principal SPS automotive performance: "First of all, I would like to thank our team and the drivers, who once again did a super job. Yesterday we were a bit disappointed about second place. Without the safety car at the end of the race, we would have had an absolutely realistic chance of winning the gold medal. Today in the GT Sprint we were also a bit unlucky, but managed to hold our own in this top-class field. Thanks also to the motorsport federations of Germany and Switzerland for this opportunity. I think we represented both nations well."




SPS automotive performance e.K. photos SRO