The ADAC GT Masters season ended in mid-November, but Engel has not yet relaxed into the winter break. In a fortnight's time, the 35-year-old will venture onto new terrain and compete in the season finale of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). The concluding fixture will be held in and around the historic Italian circuit of Monza. Having finished third overall in this year's Super Sports Car League, Engel remains loyal to his racing team but is switching from a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to a ¦koda Fabia Rally2 Evo. Toksport WRT have enjoyed considerable success in rallying over recent years. This season, the Eifel-based outfit is leading the drivers' standings in the WRC2 category thanks to the efforts of Pontus Tidemand, having already clinched the team title at an earlier event. Engel was given a test run in the ¦koda by last year's European Champion Chris Ingram. "I have always had great respect for what the rally drivers and their navigators do," says Engel. "I'm curious to see how it works in practice and looking forward to trying it out for myself. I know that it's going to be a huge challenge and that I will have a steep learning curve."

While preparing to compete against the world's rally elite in Monza on the weekend of 4th 6th December, Engel found time to set a new lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. He took 6:48.047 mins to complete a circuit of the 20.83km 'Green Hell' in a 730bhp Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series, a new record for production cars on the legendary circuit in the Eifel. "That was a really impressive drive," said Engel. "With speeds of up to almost 270 km/h in the Kesselchen section of the track and going at well over 300 km/h on the long Döttinger Höhe straight, I was significantly faster than in my GT3 racing car."