Livery to celebrate

This year, Mercedes-Benz marks 130 years in motorsport – an anniversary steeped in events and achievements.

The era began with the first competitive automobile ride from Paris to Rouen on July 22, 1894. At present, the three-pointed star is involved as Mercedes-AMG in Formula 1, GT customer racing and Esports. 

February 16-18’s Repco Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama Circuit, some 200km west of Sydney, marked the start of the anniversary activities. It also served as the season opener of this year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge. 

Next to nine further Mercedes-AMGs, the entry with starting number 130 stood out. The marque’s Team GruppeM Racing ran the AMG GT3 sporting a special anniversary livery, pictured. The car comes in a colour combination of white, silver and classic carbon-fibre optics to symbolise 130 years of motorsport. 

White was the typical colour of German race cars from the early days. Silver is a reminiscence of the silver arrows that were born in 1934. Legend has it the paint was scraped off the W 25s overnight to reduce their racing weight. 

The rear section of the anniversary livery, meanwhile, shows clear carbon-fibre looks and builds a bridge to the current GTs and F1 cars, the outside bodywork of which is largely made of carbon fibre.

Driver of the car with starting number 130 is Mercedes-AMG performance driver and AMG brand ambassador Maro Engel, who has been racing for the brand since 2008. 

Complementing the real-world racing activities, the anniversary livery will also be available in various racing simulations.