Maro René Engel (born 27 August 1985) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

professional racing driver based in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. He is a

Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG (Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach), is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG v ...

factory driver since 2008 & brand ambassador since 2017. He is a FIA GT World Cup Champion (2015, 2024), Nürburgring 24 hour winner (2016), two time Daytona 24h winner in GTD & GTD Pro (2021, 2023), three time Macau Grand Prix GT Cup winner (2014, 2015, 2022), Petit Le Mans 10h winner in GTD PRO (2023), Suzuka 10h winner (2018), GT World Challenge Endurance Cup Champion (2018 - formerly Blancpain Endurance Series) and DTM race winner. He is currently racing in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in

DTM DTM may refer to: Sport * Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, a motor-racing series staged annually in Germany since 2000 * Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a motor-racing championship staged in Germany from 1984 to 1995 Computing * Data Transfer ...

GT World Challenge Europe GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's ...

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

Intercontinental GT Challenge The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group in 2016. It consists of international Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance races for grand tourer racing cars complying w ...

FIA GT World Cup The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for tour ...

. Over his career he has raced in a variety of different series: in the three eras of the DTM, GT World Challenge, IMSA, Intercontinental GT Challenge, FIA Formula E, V8 Supercars, F3000, and WRC. Outside of his racing activities, Engel holds the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record for road-legal production cars. On 23 September 2024, he set a lap time of 6:29.090 driving the Mercedes-AMG ONE, surpassing the previous record by over six seconds. The lap was completed under optimal track conditions, with the vehicle's configuration and timing verified by TÜV Rheinland and a notary present to confirm the record's authenticity.

Racing career

Early career

Born in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Engel competed in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

in Germany and France between 1996 and 1999 and finished 4th in the 2000 European Junior Karting Championship. Moving onto

Formula BMW Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young ...

, finishing 3rd in the 2001 Junior Cup, before finishing 8th in Formula BMW ADAC the following year.

Formula Three (2003–2007)

After short spells in

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

in 2003-2004, and Italian Formula 3000 in 2005. Engel competed in full seasons in British series in 2006 and 2007, in 2006 receiving backing from

Direxiv Direxiv Co. Ltd. was a motorsports company that competed in Super GT and Formula Nippon. The company had links to the GP2 Series, then the feeder series for Formula One, and had submitted an entry to run a Formula One team in 2008. History Direxiv ...

. In 2007 he was signed as a

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Junior driving for

Carlin Motorsport Carlin, formerly known as Carlin Motorsport and Rodin Carlin, was a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It primarily competed in junior racing championships such as FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3. Carlin also competed in top level ...

. He finished fifth with one victory in 2006, and was runner-up to

Marko Asmer Marko Asmer (born 30 July 1984) is an Estonian former racing driver, who won the British Formula 3 Championship title in 2007. Asmer is also the first Estonian to test a Formula One car, having tested for the Williams BMW team in 2003, after ...

in 2007 with three wins.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (2008–2011)

In 2008 Engel was signed as a factory driver by

AMG Mercedes Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG (Aufrecht, Melcher, Großaspach), is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles. The co ...

to drive a one-year-old car run by

Mücke Motorsport Mücke Motorsport (also known as ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg) is an auto racing team based in Germany. History Single-seaters Mücke Motorsport was formed by Peter Mücke in 1998 to run his son Stefan Mücke in the German Formula BMW ADAC series, ...

in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for the 2008 season. He remained with the team 2011 season. In four years racing in the category, he achieved a best result of sixth place at first round held at the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. He went on to finish the 2009 season in twelfth place over all, scoring eight points.

GT Racing (2012)

After leaving DTM, Engel spent the 2012 year making several guest appearances in selected

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

championships worldwide as a member of the AMG Customer Sports team, winning the fifth round of the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Australian GT Championship The GT World Challenge Australia, formerly known as the Australian GT Championship, is a Motorsport Australia-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship ...

at the

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, Victoria, Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1952. Along with The Bend Motorsport P ...

, driving a

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C197 / R197) is a front mid-engine, 2-seater, limited production sports car developed by the Mercedes-AMG division of German automotive manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, with the assistance of David Coulthard. The car is th ...

prepared by Erebus Racing.

V8 Supercars (2013)

Engel Erebus Mercedes E63 V8 Supercar Test 2013

Engel made his

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

debut in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, driving a

Mercedes E63 AMG The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a range of executive cars manufactured by German automaker Mercedes-Benz in various engine and body configurations. Produced since September 1953, the E-Class falls as a midrange in the Mercedes line-up, and has been ...

entered by

Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport (formerly known as Erebus Racing) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. The team's current drivers are Jack ...

(formerly known as

Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones (racing driver), Alan J ...

). Engel replaced

Shane van Gisbergen Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989), also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional auto racing, racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, C ...

as the driver of the No. 9 SP Tools entry. Engel had five race retirements. His best finish was a ninth place in a hastily prepared under developed car at the third race of the Darwin round.

Macau Grand Prix GT Cup (2013)

Next to his commitments in

for

he competed in the 2013 Macau GT Cup with a

scoring pole position and a lap record in qualifying. Narrowly missing out on the victory due to sustaining a puncture on the front left while leading, 2 laps before the end.

GT Racing (2014)

In 2014 Engel resumed his duties as a member of the AMG Customer Sports team racing exclusively with the

. Making his debut in the

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for Group GT3, GT and Production car racing, production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, New South ...

racing for

together with

Bernd Schneider (racing driver) Bernd Robert Schneider (born 20 July 1964) is a German racing driver. He is a five-time Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion, and a Mercedes Brand Ambassador. Career Early years Schneider was named after legendary driver Bernd Rosemeyer, winn ...

and Nico Bastian Engel scored pole position with a lap record of 2min03.8586 and winning the inaugural

Allan Simonsen Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a Danish former footballer and manager. He most prominently played as a striker for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcel ...

Pole Position Trophy. The German trio dominated the race for 9 hours before an issue forced them to pit for repairs dropping them 7 laps down. He participated in his first

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

racing for German team

ROWE Racing ROWE Racing is the motor racing team of the German lubricant manufacturer Rowe Mineralölwerk. Since 2011, ROWE Racing has competed in series such as the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the GT World Challenge Europe (former Blancpain GT Series), th ...

finishing the "Hardest race in the World" in 3rd place together with his teammates Nico Bastian

Christian Hohenadel Christian Hohenadel (born 20 September 1976 in Dudweiler) is a German racing driver. Together with Daniel Keilwitz, he won four races and the drivers championship of the 2010 FIA GT3 championship, driving a Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 In th ...

and Michael Zehe. Engel also competed in various VLN races for

winning the 9th round of the VLN championship. He also raced in the German

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

series for

Macau Grand Prix GT Cup (2014)

Racing for the

Driving Academy team in a

Engel returned to Macau winning the 2014

Macau GT Cup The Macau Grand Prix (; ) is an annual motorsport road racing event for automobiles and motorcycles held on the Guia Circuit in Macau. The event includes the Formula Regional and Motorcycle Grand Prix title races, with other races for tour ...

ahead of his teammate

Renger van der Zande Renger is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Annemarie Renger (1919–2008), German politician * Thomas Renger (born 1972), German sitting volleyball player * Renger van der Zande (born 1986), Dutch racing driv ...

scoring a very popular 1-2 win in the gambling capital against the strong competition of

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

and other factory teams and drivers.

GT Racing (2015)

Engel continued racing with and for the AMG Customer Sports team in the

. He was also part of the

drivers that assisted development of the new Mercedes-AMG GT3.

FIA GT World Cup (2015)

In 2015 the

was recognised by the FIA as the

lifting its status to the World Cup for GT3 cars. Engel returned with his

Driving Academy team in the successful

. Engel won the 12 lap qualification race from third on the grid after

Stefan Mücke Stefan Mücke (born 22 November 1981) is a German racing driver. Racing career Born in Berlin, Mücke started his racing career in 1998, when he won the Formula BMW ADAC series, with his father's Mücke Motorsport team, also making their debut. ...

was penalised for a Safety car procedure infringement. Starting from pole position in the 18 lap race around Macau's famous

Guia circuit The Guia Circuit, or Circuito da Guia, is a street circuit located at the southeast region of the Macau Peninsula in Macau. It is the venue of the Macau Grand Prix, Macau Grand Prix #Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix (1967–), Macau Motorcycle Gran ...

Engel won the race and was crowned the inaugural

Champion. Through Engel's victory combined with the 4th-place finish of his teammate

won the inaugural FIA GT Manufacturers World Cup.

GT Racing (2016)

Racing for Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon in the new Mercedes-AMG GT3, Engel took overall victory at the Nürburgring 24 hours together with his teammates

Adam Christodoulou Adam Robert Christodoulou (born 11 June 1989) is a British and Greek racing driver, who won the 2008 British Formula Renault Championship and also won the 2009 Star Mazda Championship in the United States. His cousin Riki Christodoulou is al ...

and Manuel Metzger. Engel made the decisive pass to win the race on the last lap. His winning margin was the tightest in the history of the race with merely 5,6s separating the first two cars. Engel was also the first winner of the SCG Pole position trophy after scoring pole position for the Nürburgring 24 hour race in drying track conditions with a lap of 8 minutes 14.563 in the #9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with which Engel also raced performing a double start duty and finishing the race in 4th position with this second car. Following two victories in 2014 and 2015 in Macau, Engel finished 3rd at the 2016 FIA GT World Cup

Formula E

In August 2016, Engel joined

Venturi Grand Prix Venturi Racing (formerly Venturi Formula E Team) was a Monegasque motor racing team controlled by Scott Swid (Chairman and principal owner) and José M Aznar Botella. The team competed in the FIA Formula E World Championship. Venturi Racing co ...

to make his debut in the 2016-17 season. In his second season Engel finished 12th in the driver standings, scoring a best result of 4th at the Paris ePrix.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (2017)

In 2017, Engel rejoined the DTM with Mercedes-Benz taking his maiden DTM win at the Moscow raceway

GT Racing (2018)

In 2018, racing for Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon Engel went on to win the prestigious Blancpain Endurance Series title with his co-drivers, Luca Stolz and Yelmer Buurmann. Racing for Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM he went on to win the Suzuka 10h Intercontinental GT Challenge round sharing the car with Raffaele Marciello and Tristan Vautier. Racing for Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon Engel finished second at the Nurburgring 24h with his team mates Adam Christodoulou, Manuel Metzger and Dirk Mueller. At the FIA GT World Cup in Macau, Engel finished second with his Mercedes-AMG GT3 behind the winning BMW M6 GT3 of Augusto Farfus.

GT Racing (2019)

In 2019, Engel finished runner up in the Blancpain GT Series, Overall and Sprint championships as well as 3rd in the Endurance championship racing for Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon with his team mates Luca Stolz (sprint & endurance) and Yelmer Buurmann (endurance). He also scored Pole Position for the Nurburgring and Spa 24h races, a feat which had not been done by any current GT driver scoring pole position for the two biggest GT only Sportscar races in the world in the same year. Together with Yelmer Buurmann and Luca Stolz he finished the Spa 24h race in third place.

GT Racing (2020)

In 2020, Engel finished 3rd in the ADAC GT Masters championship racing for Mercedes-AMG team Toksport and sharing the car with his team mate Luca Stolz, they were in contention for the title until the final race but had to contend with 3rd place in the final rankings. Engel also scored his second consecutive pole position for the Nurburgring 24h race scoring his third SCG Pole Position award making him the driver with the most pole awards since its inception.

GT Racing (2021)

In 2021, Engel won the Daytona 24h race in the GTD class racing for Winward Racing together with Philipp Ellis, Indy Dontje and team owner Russell Ward. It marked the first class win for Mercedes-AMG at the legendary Daytona 24h race. Racing for Mercedes-AMG team Toksport (sprint) and Mercedes-AMG team HRT (endurance) Engel finished runner up in the GT World Challenge sprint championship and third in the GT World Challenge Overall championship together with his team mate Luca Stolz. In the ADAC GT Masters championship in a repeat scenario from the previous year he and team mate Luca Stolz racing for Mercedes-AMG team Toksport were in contention until the final race but had to contend with third in the final rankings after a controversial penalty in the final race while leading and on course to take the championship.

GT Racing (2022)

In 2022, Engel won his third Macau Gran Prix GT Cup racing for Mercedes-AMG team Craft Bamboo. He also finished 2nd at the Bathurst 12h with team mates Daniel Juncadella and Kevin Tse. At the Nurburgring 24h Engel finished 3rd racing for Mercedes-AMG team Getspeed together with his team mates Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon. At the Sebring 12h Engel finished 3rd in GTD PRO racing with Jules Gounon and Cooper McNeil for Weathertech Racing. After a five year break Engel returned to DTM in under its new GT3 regulations scoring 1 Pole Position and two podiums.

GT Racing (2023)

In 2023, Engel took his second class win in the Daytona 24h winning the GTD Pro class for Weathertech Racing together with team mates Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and team owner Cooper McNeil. Later that year he also took the class win at the Petit Le Mans 10h and 3rd at the Sebring 12h in GTD PRO for Weathertech Racing together with Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella. At the Bathurst 12h Engel scored Pole Position setting a new qualifying track record of 2min00,8819 on the way to taking his second Allan Simonsen Pole award driving for Mercedes-AMG team GruppeM. In the race the following day together with team mates Raffaele Marciello and Mikael Grenier he finished in 3rd place after the crew was forced to change a organizer supplied modem at the last pitstop which stopped working, dropping them from a comfortable lead to second place. In the final stint Engel collided with his Daytona winning team mate Jules Gounon while fighting to regain the lead. Following the contact Engel received a drive through penalty and dropped to third place. In the remaining 30 minutes Engel closed down the gap to the leaders and the finish was the closest finish in Bathurst 12h history with the top three cars covered by 1,4177s. In DTM Engel took 1 pole position and 1 win in what was a difficult year for the Mercedes-AMG cars as a whole. In GT World Challenge Endurance Engel finished 3rd in the Endurance championship racing for Mercedes-AMG team Getspeed (season except Spa 24h)and Mercedes-AMG team GruppeM (Spa 24h). At the FIA GT World Cup in Macau racing for Mercedes-AMG team Craft Bamboo Engel qualified in 3rd place and finished the qualifying race in 2nd place behind brand mate Raffaele Marciello. In the main race Engel suffered a shifting issue while running in 2nd place which forced him to retire from the race.

Commitment

Maro Engel is today a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of 80 famous elite athletes including

Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...

and

Sergey Bubka Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (; ''Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka''; born 4 December 1963) is a Ukrainian former pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by '' Track & Field News ...

among others, committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by

Peace and Sport Peace and Sport (also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport") is a sports organization based in Monaco under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Ivorian Football player, footballer Didier Drogba became the organization's ...

, a

-based international organization.Peace and Sport
/ref>

Racing record

Career summary

^† Guest driver ineligible to score points. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Three Euro Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Supercars Championship results

Bathurst 1000 results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Engel did not complete sufficient laps to score full points. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula E results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Season still in progress.

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engel, Maro 1985 births Living people Racing drivers from Bavaria Racing drivers from Munich Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Auto GP drivers Formula BMW ADAC drivers Supercars Championship drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Formula E drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24H Series drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Carlin racing drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers Rowe Racing drivers Venturi Grand Prix drivers International GT Open drivers Durango (racing team) drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers HWA Team drivers Eifelland Racing drivers Toksport WRT drivers Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers Proton Competition drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers