Fitness camp with the Mercedes-AMG DTM Team
Hard work was top of the agenda before the new season gets under way. From the 4th to the 8th of February, the Mercedes-AMG DTM drivers laid the basic foundations for the upcoming DTM year at their traditional fitness camp in La Manga, Spain. Fitness training was, however, only part of the programme for the six drivers Lucas Auer, Paul Di Resta, Maro Engel, Edoardo Mortara, Gary Paffett and Robert Wickens plus test and reserve driver Maximilian Günther.
It was, of course, about training, but also to a large extent about growing together as a team and setting goals for the season. This is all the more important as there were three new faces at this year’s fitness camp with Maro Engel, who is returning to the DTM, and the two newcomers, Edoardo Mortara and Maximilian Günther.
Despite having to train hard, you could see that Maximilian Günther was also enjoying himself in the group. “Team work and team building were the main elements,” he said. “It was really great. Sure, most of the drivers have known each other for a long time, but there are also new members in the team like Edo and me. It’s nice to be able to really get to know one another.”
Apart from fitness training and team sports such as football, karting, mountain biking, tennis and kayaking were also on the programme for the test week. There was a little bit of everything,” said Maximilian. “It was very exhausting on the one hand, but there were also lots of meetings and little get-togethers, from which I learned a great deal.”
Hard training, team spirit greatly improved – that’s also how last week can be summed up from the point of view of Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM Ulrich Fritz: “We had three new members in the team with Edo, Maro and Max. The newcomers were able to fit into our team really well at La Manga. The drivers have grown together as a group and have assimilated that special team spirit which has been so much a feature of our team in recent years. Along with good performance on the track, that’s another vital component for a successful season.”