MAX Verstappen’s victory and subsequent disqualification in a Red Bull-backed Mercedes at the Nurburgring Nordschleife drew plenty of headlines over the weekend.
What was less visible is that the #3 Verstappen Racing’s DSQ elevated an Aussie who’d initially plied his trade in Supercars into the winners’ circle.
Verstappen took pole for the four-hour race and together with Dani Juncadella and Jules Gounon converted that into victory, only to be stripped of that result for a tyre allocation breach.
The direct beneficiary was the Marc Mastrodomenico-engineered #99 Rowe Racing BMW of Jordan Pepper and Dan Harper who inherited first place.
Mastrodomenico studied mechanical engineering at the University of South Australia before operating as a data engineer at Matt Stone Racing in 2021-22, including on Jack Le Brocq’s Commodore in the latter year.
After a stint with Boeing, he has established himself in the European GT racing scene.
MSR is now in the process of bringing through more young engineers, with Caleb Mutsaerts and Oliver Boone operating on the main game cars of Zach Bates and Jack Le Brocq respectively, under the watchful eye of head of engineering Jack Bellotti.
Verstappen, who has been outspoken about his disdain for Formula 1’s new regulations, will make his Nurburgring 24 Hours debut in May alongside Juncadella, Gounon and Lucas Auer.
Jules Gounon, Max Verstappen and Dani Juncadella shortly after finishing first on the road. Pic: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport X