Josh and the Mertens Motorsport team enjoyed a perfect start to their 2024 campaign, taking pole position and the win in both races at the season-opening double header.
The track was damp on Saturday morning as qualifying started, and the times dropped lap by lap. Having spent most of the session in the top positions, Dany maximised the drying track to put the car on pole in the closing stages.
Josh was really getting the itch to go racing now but would have to wait a little longer as Dany took the start for the race. By the end of the first stint, Dany had built a healthy lead, which continued to grow as Josh drove a fast and consistent double stint. Entering the fourth and final hour, the car was in a great position for Dany to manage the pace and bring the car home to an excellent victory.
Following his first win at the Nurburgring, Josh said “It’s been an incredible day, I’ve had to wait a long time since my last race so to come back like this is just amazing. It was the perfect way to start the season and I couldn’t have asked for more on my return to the Nurburgring. Hopefully we can do it again tomorrow!”
For Sunday qualifying, the track was completely dry. A closely contested session saw both Josh and Dany set times good enough for pole position and this time Josh didn’t have to wait long to get going; he took the start of the race and made the most of the pole position, building a seven second lead in the opening lap. For most of the stint Josh was able to manage the tyres and maintain his lead, but with two laps to go until the first pitstop, he got stuck behind traffic and the second place car was right on his tail. What followed was an amazing multi-lap battle as the two cars fought through traffic before eventually following each other into the pits, with Josh still holding the lead.
Both teams made driver changes at the pitstop as Dany jumped in for a double stint. From that point on the race got easier as the team’s nearest competitors suffered mechanical issues and were forced to retire. When Josh jumped in for the final stint, they found themselves in a similar situation to the day before, with a large gap that could be managed through to the chequered flag.
Josh had this to say “That fight with the Cupra in the first stint was awesome, we definitely pushed each other hard and it’s a shame that they had a mechanical failure because I think we could have put on a great show for the whole race. Thank you so much to everyone at Mertens Motorsport for an incredible performance and a brilliant car this weekend.”
There’s no time to rest as it’s straight back to racing this weekend at the Nurburgring 24 Hour qualifiers, which will also count as NLS scoring rounds. Josh and the team are very excited for the next races and will be looking to extend their championship lead.