BLACK FALCON wins 24h Qualification Race
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Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON have won the Qualifying Race that acts as the curtain raiser for the legendary Nürburgring 24 Hours. The team’s SP9-class #5 Mercedes-AMG GT3 battled for the overall lead from early on in the six-hour race and eventually took a hard-fought victory, pushed all the way to the line by their competitors. All three BLACK FALCON AMG GT3 finished strongly in an event that featured 91 quality entries, delivering important results that will improve the team’s position for the main 24-hour race next month. BLACK FALCON also won the V6 class for production cars.
The winning #5 AMG’s crew comprised Thomas Jäger (Germany), Jan Seyffarth (Germany) and Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands). The #4 AMG’s drivers, who finished an excellent second in last weekend’s VLN2 race, were Maro Engel (Germany), Manuel Metzger (Germany), and Adam Christodoulou (United Kingdom). The third AMG, #6, featured Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia), Hubert Haupt (Germany), Erik Johansson (Sweden) and Gabriele Piana (Italy).
BLACK FALCON Team IDENTICA entered the #66 Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the hotly contested SP10 class, featuring Carlos Gomez (USA), Fidel Leib (Germany) and Moritz Oberheim (Germany) as the drivers.
BLACK FALCON Team TMD Friction oversaw a pair of Porsche entries. In SP7, Saud Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia) and Jürgen Bleul (Germany) drove the #64 Porsche 991 GT3 Cup MRII, while Stephan Köhler (Germany), Axel König (Germany), Alexander Böhm (Germany) and Norbert Schneider (Germany) crewed the #138 Porsche 991 Carrera in the V6 class.
The track was slightly damp for the early sessions, but the BLACK FALCON AMG were quick from the off, fifth and sixth fastest overall in Free Practice, with #138 quickest in the V6 class, setting a precedent for the weekend. The two-part Qualifying would be important not just for the Qualifying Race but also for the 24 Hours itself, as the fastest times set this weekend would guarantee places in the Top 30 Qualifying for the 24 Hours. With the sessions combined, #5 would start from the second row of the grid, in fourth position overall after setting a time barely a second off pole. #4 lined up 19th, with #6 beside it in 20th. #138 set the fastest time in the V6 class and would start 52nd overall as the fastest production car. Unfortunately, the #66 AMG-GT4 encountered trouble with a misfire, and wouldn’t set a representative time: they would start near the back. The #64 Porsche had to be withdrawn from the event after a crash on Saturday.
83 starters lined up for the Qualifying Race, and although that was around half a typical VLN event this weekend was all about the fight at the front. The fog and damp of the morning had quickly burned off, and the sun burst through the clouds over the Nordschleife for the massed rolling starts. The race took a while to settle down, the lead changing on a regular basis with no team finding the opportunity to make a breakaway in such a tightly-contested pack. #5 was in attacking form at the head of the field, while its sister AMGs fought hard to gain places. Another positive was that the AMG-GT4 ran strongly, its earlier trouble diagnosed and rectified by the expert BLACK FALCON engineering team.
For 41 laps the #5 crew piled on the pressure, and in the dying minutes Yelmer fought off a spirited assault by the second place car to finish barely two seconds clear and take the win. Manuel brought home #4 in eighth after a frantic race, almost taking seventh, while tyre issues and collision damage cost #6 time – they would come home in tenth after a spirited race. The #66 crew achieved an excellent 28th after a recovery drive from the back of the grid, taking fourth in SP10. The #138 Porsche dominated V6, winning the class and finishing in 40th place.
Although this victory tastes sweet, it’s just the appetizer for the main event: the Nürburgring 24 Hours itself that will take place next month. You can support Team BLACK FALCON across all social media platforms: follow the team via twitter.com/TeamBlackFalcon, facebook.com/teamblackfalcon/ and instagram.com/teamblackfalcon to get live action updates directly from the tracks, as well as fantastic images of the team in action.
