BLACK FALCON finishes 2019 season with second place in South Africa

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IGTC – Race Report Round 5 Kyalami, South Africa

BLACK FALCON has scored second place in the Silver Cup class at the reintroduction of the 9h Kyalami (South Africa) and finished the extremely successful racing season 2019 with another highlight. Sergei Afanasiev (RU), Patrick Assenheimer (DE) and Hubert Haupt (DE) experienced a memorable race at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6, which was impacted by a thunderstorm with torrential rainfall in the last few hours of the race after a great opening under best weather conditions.

Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 - Afanasiev/Assenheimer/Haupt
The BLACK FALCON Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 of Afanasiev, Assenheimer and Haupt fought a tough battle for the lead in the Silver Cup class from the first official training session at the first 9h race on the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit since 1982. After second place in Thursday evening's night practice, the team achieved the fastest time in the class in Friday's pre-qualifying, leaving behind several PRO cars. BLACK FALCON also kept the upper hand in the following qualifying session and secured pole position in the Silver Cup.

At midday on Saturday, the 28 GT3 cars went into the endurance classic in perfect weather conditions. The BLACK FALCON AMG GT3 got off to a good start and was able to stand out decisively from the chasers in the class during the first hours. Afanasiev, Assenheimer and Haupt meanwhile were within reach of the top 10 of the overall classification, before the race was turned upside down by a thunderstorm two hours before the end. Torrential rainfall and massive aquaplaning caused numerous spins, accidents and slips in the field. Unfortunately, the BLACK FALCON AMG GT3 was not spared a slip either, which was unavoidable due to the prevailing track conditions. The crew of the #6 lost the lead in the Silver Cup class, which they could not regain due to a safety car period caused by the storm, which lasted until 20 minutes before the end of the race. Thus the BLACK FALCON AMG GT3 #6 crossed the finish line at the first participation in South Africa on the second place in the Silver Cup class and in 15th position in the overall classification.

Sean Paul Breslin (Team Principal BLACK FALCON GT): "We experienced a spectacular race in Kyalami. Unfortunately, we lost our lead in the Silver Cup class due to the thunderstorm, but we were still a strong runner-up. Many thanks to the whole team for all the hard work this season and to the SRO and the track staff of the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit who made this grandiose race possible".

Further information about the BLACK FALCON team is available daily on the team's social media channels:

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