Fifth Win Puts Class Championship Within Reach

Josh, Dany and guest-starter, Jeff Ricca, lead home a Mertens Motorsport 1-2 to extend championship lead.

As testing started on Friday afternoon, spirits were high as the chase for win number five began and the team welcomed their excited guests to the track for passenger hotlaps around the legendary Nordschleife. Sadly though, testing was brought to an abrupt halt as a compressed air bottle exploded in the paddock, injuring numerous people, some very seriously. Despite initial uncertainty, it was decided late on Friday night that the race would go ahead as planned.

When qualifying got underway on Saturday morning, the crew at Mertens Motorsport showed their resilience to deliver a great car in which Dany took pole position. With six hours of racing ahead though, the team knew that anything could happen.

The race started at 12:00 with Dany at the wheel; he maintained position ahead of the competition, but on lap two there was a downpour of rain and the race was suspended as several of the overall leaders crashed out on slick tyres. As the red flags waved, Dany and the rest of the field made their way back to the pits in torrential rain, awaiting news of the restart.

It came at 14:00 with four hours left on the clock, and once again Dany successfully held the lead, closely followed by the sister car (no. 492). At the first round of pitstops, Dany handed over to TC America points-leader, Jeff Ricca, who joined the team as a guest starter for this event. Jeff put his years of Hyundai experience on display, quickly getting up to speed and continuing to build a gap over the 492 .

Josh took over for the third and fourth stints, extending the lead further and setting three times quick enough for the fastest lap. Due to the earlier suspension of the race, a "splash-and-dash" was required to make it to the end of the race on fuel, and Jeff was the one to bring it across the line for the fifth win of the year, leading home a Mertens Motorsport 1-2 finish.

Reflecting on a challenging weekend, Josh said "I'm delighted to come away from the weekend with win number five and a 1-2 finish for the team. It was a great way to finish what was a difficult and emotional weekend for the whole NLS community. Following the incident that took place in the paddock on Friday, my thoughts and best wishes are with all those affected."

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