In accordance with data from Motorsport-Complete.com, Mercedes-AMG continues to be going through issues with the availability of spare elements for the Mercedes-AMG GT3. That is as a result of restructuring of the whole GT3 program from long-term accomplice HWA to the in-house Affalterbach Racing GmbH (AFF), which has been answerable for group assist since January 2025.
“It’s certainly tight, however the groups are serving to one another out properly,” confirmed Thomas Jager, who acts as Sporting Director for the DTM sector at Mercedes-AMG, on the finish of April throughout the DTM season opener in Spielberg. “In the meanwhile, it’s not the case {that a} automobile is sidelined due to this.”
Other than that, the scenario had “improved considerably in current weeks. We’re actually not but the place we need to be, however we’re heading in the right direction,” Jager mentioned on the time. Nonetheless, experiences recommend that the scenario stays tense.
Did elements even should be borrowed for Verstappen?
In accordance with data from Motorsport-Complete.com, the Winward group needed to borrow elements from the Schnitzelalm group in mid-Might throughout the 24-hour race on the Nurburgring after a drive shaft failure on Max Verstappen’s automobile. This was the one method to get the automobile working once more for the joint picture end with the race-winning Winward automobile.
And even the Mercedes-AMG GT3 that received the 24-hour basic benefited from gearbox elements from the Schnitzelalm crew, which have been wanted by Winward after Maro Engel’s qualifying crash on Friday in order that the automobile may begin the race on Saturday.
Earlier than that, the Ring Racing group had already skipped the second Qualifiers race for the 24h basic on April 19 as a result of they didn’t have sufficient elements out there. Different groups are mentioned to have even manufactured sure elements themselves as a result of emergency, which isn’t with out threat as a result of they have no idea the precise specs. This will result in materials failures.
Even in early June, monitor rods and decrease wishbones for the entrance axle have been nonetheless briefly provide – and one group was even allowed to compete within the GT Open sequence with a damaged headlight as a result of there was no substitute half and the sequence granted a particular waiver.
“Suppliers have gone bankrupt”
The supply difficulties have an effect on “just a few vital elements proper now,” Jager mentioned on the finish of April. This was as a result of reality “that suppliers have gone bankrupt and, with complicated elements, it takes a comparatively very long time to certify a brand new provider or to get the provider working once more,” he defined again then.
In accordance with Jager, these issues have “considerably sophisticated” the swap from HWA to Affalterbach Racing GmbH, which is a one hundred pc subsidiary of Mercedes-AMG. “However we hope that we are going to be again to an excellent stage within the subsequent 4 to 6 weeks.”
That timeframe would have been reached by now, but it surely doesn’t appear like an entire easing of the scenario. Mercedes-AMG had already warned its groups on the finish of 2025 a couple of doable spare elements scarcity and really helpful filling up their very own shares for the transition part till spring. Nonetheless, the bottlenecks are actually apparently lasting longer than anticipated – and it stays to be seen how the scenario develops.
24-hour classics create monumental strain
At the moment, the workload can be monumental as a result of endurance classics: Following the 24-hour race on the Nurburgring, the 24 Hours of Le Mans passed off final weekend, the place three Mercedes-AMG GT3s from the Iron Lynx group have been additionally in motion.
And from June 24 to 26, the third and for now last 24h basic of the yr will happen in Spa-Francorchamps – with no fewer than ten Mercedes-AMG GT3s on the grid.
The DTM weekend on the Lausitzring, which takes place from June 19 to 21, ought to – so long as there aren’t any surprising whole losses – proceed with out main issues, because the working instances are considerably shorter in comparison with the 24-hour races. Moreover, the variety of automobiles can be manageable with 4 items.
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