Maro Engel: The Mercedes-AMG Driver Who Built a Career in Endurance Racing

Maro Engel is a German professional racing driver who has spent most of his career in Mercedes-AMG machinery. He has won the Nurburgring 24 Hours twice, the Macau GT Cup four times and the GT World Challenge Europe championship in 2024. He has also held the road-legal lap record at the Nordschleife since 2024.

Where did Engel's racing career start?

Engel was born on 27 August 1985 in Munich. Between 1996 and 1999 he raced karts in Germany and France, and in 2000 he placed fourth at the European Junior Karting Championship.

He then moved into Formula BMW, where he came third in the 2001 Junior Cup. A year later he finished eighth in the German Formula BMW ADAC series.

A factory driver who found his best form in endurance racing and set the road-legal lap record at the Nordschleife.

How did his single-seater years unfold?

After brief spells in Formula 3 in 2003 and 2004, and a season in Italian Formula 3000 in 2005, Engel raced full British seasons in 2006 and 2007. Direxiv backed him in 2006, when he finished fifth with one victory.

Carlin Motorsport gave him a seat in 2007 under a Mercedes-Benz junior contract. He finished as runner-up to Marko Asmer that year, with three wins to his name.

What happened in his early DTM years?

Engel became an AMG Mercedes factory driver in 2008, and he was put into a car run by Mucke Motorsport in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. That car was already a year old. He stayed with the team until 2011, and in those four years his best result was sixth at the Hockenheimring in 2009.

That 2009 season ended with him twelfth overall, having scored eight points.

How did Engel move into GT racing?

After leaving DTM, Engel spent 2012 making guest appearances in sports car championships around the world with the AMG Customer Sports team. He won the fifth round of the Australian GT Championship at Phillip Island, in an SLS AMG GT3 run by Erebus Racing.

His GT work then expanded in 2014, when he raced exclusively with the SLS AMG GT3. That year brought his first Nurburgring 24 Hours appearance, a third place for ROWE Racing, and a ninth-round win in the VLN championship.

When did Engel first race in Macau?

He first raced the Macau GT Cup in 2013, while still committed to V8 Supercars. In qualifying he took pole and set a lap record, but a front-left tyre failure while in the lead, two laps from the flag, cost him the win.

He returned in 2014 with the Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy team and won the race, leading a 1-2 for Mercedes with Renger van der Zande. The win came against factory squads from Audi, BMW and Porsche.

What was his V8 Supercars stint?

Engel made his V8 Supercars debut in 2013, in an Erebus-run Mercedes E63 AMG, from the team formerly called Stone Brothers Racing. He took over the No. 9 SP Tools entry from Shane van Gisbergen.

The season brought five retirements. The best he managed was ninth at Darwin, in the third race, in a car rushed together that was still under development.

How did Bathurst and the Nurburgring first feature?

Engel's Bathurst 12 Hour debut came in 2014 with Erebus Motorsport, alongside Bernd Schneider and Nico Bastian. He qualified on pole with a lap record of 2min03.8586, which earned him the inaugural Allan Simonsen Pole Position Trophy.

Engel, Schneider and Bastian controlled the race for about nine hours before a fault forced a pit stop for repairs, which dropped them seven laps down. At the Nurburgring 24 Hours he finished third for ROWE Racing, sharing the car with Nico Bastian, Christian Hohenadel and Michael Zehe.

What did the FIA GT World Cup title mean?

In 2015 the FIA recognised the Macau GT Cup as the FIA GT World Cup, raising its status for GT3 cars. Engel returned with the Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy team in the SLS AMG GT3 and won the twelve-lap qualifying race from third on the grid.

He started the eighteen-lap main race from pole and won it, becoming the inaugural FIA GT World Cup champion. Thanks to his win, and to the fourth place of teammate Renger van der Zande, Mercedes-Benz took the first FIA GT Manufacturers World Cup as well.

Engel's World Cup record continued with a third place in 2016 and a second place in Macau in 2018, behind the BMW M6 GT3 of Augusto Farfus. In 2024 he took a second World Cup victory.

How did Engel win the 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours?

Engel took overall victory at the 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours in the new Mercedes-AMG GT3, driving for Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon with Bernd Schneider, Adam Christodoulou and Manuel Metzger. He made the decisive pass on the last lap, and the margin of victory was the smallest the race has ever produced.

He was also the first recipient of the SCG Pole Position trophy, having taken pole in drying conditions with a time of 8 minutes 14.563 in car number 9. He then drove that car in the race as well, performing a double start duty and finishing fourth with it.

What was his Formula E spell?

Engel's Formula E debut came with Venturi Grand Prix, which he joined in August 2016 for its 2016-17 campaign. In his second season he finished twelfth in the drivers' standings, and his top result was fourth, at Paris.

How did the Blancpain and Suzuka seasons go?

Back in DTM in 2017, he drove for Mercedes-Benz and won for the first time at Moscow Raceway. With Luca Stolz and Yelmer Buurmann, he claimed the Blancpain Endurance title while driving for Black Falcon.

Driving for GruppeM, he also won the Suzuka 10 Hours round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, alongside Raffaele Marciello and Tristan Vautier. At the 2018 Nurburgring 24 Hours he finished second with Black Falcon.

The 2019 season brought runner-up finishes in both the overall and sprint standings of the Blancpain GT Series, plus third in endurance. He also took pole for both the Nurburgring and Spa 24 Hours in the same year, and finished third at Spa.

How did 2020 and 2021 go?

The 2020 ADAC GT Masters ended third for Engel and Luca Stolz at Toksport. They were still in the title hunt going into the last race, but finished third overall. That year he also took his second consecutive pole for the Nurburgring 24 Hours, which gave him a third SCG pole award.

Teaming with Philipp Ellis, Indy Dontje and Winward's owner Russell Ward, he won the Daytona 24 Hours in the GTD class in 2021. It was the first class victory for the Mercedes-AMG brand in that race. He was also second in the GT World Challenge sprint standings and third overall, again alongside Luca Stolz.

What did 2022 and 2023 bring?

The third Macau title came in 2022 for Craft Bamboo, a Mercedes-AMG team. He was also second at Bathurst with Daniel Juncadella and Kevin Tse, third at the Nurburgring 24 Hours for Getspeed, and third in GTD Pro at Sebring.

That season marked a return to DTM after a five-year break, in its new GT3 regulations. He scored one pole and two podiums in the category.

In 2023 he took his second Daytona 24 Hours class win, in GTD Pro for Weathertech Racing, and later that year he won the Petit Le Mans 10 Hours class. At Bathurst he took pole and set a new qualifying track record, but the race was harder. A modem failure at a pit stop cost the crew the lead, and a collision with his Daytona-winning teammate Jules Gounon sent him to a drive-through penalty and third place.

Engel recovered to the leaders in the closing stint, and the top three cars finished within a margin that made it the closest finish in the event's history. He also retired from the Macau World Cup after a shifting problem.

What did the 2024 season include?

Engel's 2024 season opened at the Daytona 24 Hours alongside Luca Stolz, Jules Gounon and team owner Kenny Habul, but the AMG GT3 retired after 193 laps. At Bathurst he finished eighth, sharing the No. 130 GruppeM car with Felipe Fraga and David Reynolds.

In DTM he was in a championship battle against Mirko Bortolotti and Kelvin van der Linde. He did not win a race, but finished third overall with a single pole, five second-place finishes and seven podiums. In GT World Challenge Europe, he and Lucas Auer took the Sprint Cup, finishing 2.5 points clear, with three wins and six podiums.

The pair also won the overall GT World Challenge Europe title. In the Endurance Cup, the team finished sixth after a podium at the Nurburgring and a victory at Jeddah. Later in the year he replaced Daniel Morad at Buriram and Fuji in GT World Challenge Asia, finishing second at Fuji with Cao Qi.

What is the Nordschleife lap record?

The Nurburgring Nordschleife road-legal production car lap record is his, set in September 2024 with a time of 6:29.090 in the Mercedes-AMG ONE. The run beat the previous mark by more than six seconds.

Bathurst's 12 Hour pole record has also been his since 2023.

What is Engel racing in now?

Today he races in DTM and GT World Challenge Europe, and also in IMSA, the Intercontinental GT Challenge series and the FIA GT World Cup. His record also covers Formula 3, V8 Supercars, Formula E and three eras of the DTM.

In 2026 he added a second Nurburgring 24 Hours win and a Bathurst 12 Hour win. He has also been a Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador since 2017, and in 2015 he was one of the drivers who helped develop the new Mercedes-AMG GT3.

How does his work beyond racing look?

Engel is a member of the Champions for Peace club, a group of 80 elite athletes that includes Novak Djokovic and Sergey Bubka. The club was set up by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-headquartered international organisation that works for peace through sport.

What are his key results, year by year?