VLN9: Great results despite difficult conditions

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At a turbulent ninth VLN race of the season BLACK FALCON brought home four cars and won class SP7. Tim Scheerbarth and Alex Toril resisted bad weather conditions and additionally set the fastest lap in their hard fought class. Stefan Karg, Runar Vatne and Manuel Metzger faced a spectacular photofinish when their Porsche Cayman GT4 CS #943 crossed the line in position four of class CUP3. The trio also set the fastest lap of their class. In the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #57 Jürgen Bleul, Takis and Carsten Knechtges finished fourth in class SP7. Fidel Leib and Saud Al Faisal also came home fourth in the class-V5-entered Porsche Cayman. The Team Black Falcon entered Mercedes-AMG GT3 crashed out close to the end of the race when rain started to fall.

The Qualifying of the DMV 250-Meilen-Rennen started with half an hour delay due to fog at the Grand Prix track. When the action finally started rain had replaced the fog and led to difficult track conditions. In the race the track dried up fast just to come back once again right before the end of the race.

For BLACK FALCON Team TMD Friction´s driver duo Tim Scheerbarth and Alex Toril the ninth race of the season went nearly perfect. Only the pole-position wasn´t for them at the beginning of the day. “I had some double-yellow flags in my last lap during qualifying that was faster than the ones before, but unfortunately the yellow flags stopped me from getting pole-position”, Scheerbarth commented on their third starting position. Just after the race had started, the car controllers at the pits decided to change to slick tires after two laps with all five BLACK FALCON cars and got it perfectly right. At the end of the four hours race the internally whiterocket called Porsche 911 GT3 Cup BF not only set the fastest lap of the race and scored the fifth VLN-class-victory of the season, but also came home in a fantastic ninth position overall in between the GT3 and SPX cars.

Also the drivers trio Stefan Karg, Runar Vatne and Manuel Metzger delivered a fantastic job in the hard fought Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Trophy. At his debut in Porsche Cayman #943 Manuel Metzger, who normally drives a Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3, set the fastest lap of the race and was leading the class from lap nine. After two remarkable stints of Karg and Vatne, who are racing their first VLN season, the Cayman dropped back into position four after a great photofinish. Just six hundredths of a second divided the trio from rank two when three Porsche Cayman GT4 CS crossed the line side by side.

Saud Al Faisal and Fidel Leib scored a fourth place finish in the also hard fought division V5. The duo entered a Porsche Cayman and went into the race from position five of eleven competitors after a flawless qualifying session. Saud Al Faisal is the next BLACK FALCON driver who gets his Nordschleifen-Permit-A, that allows him to race in faster cars, after a flawless performance.

Also Jürgen Bleul, Takis and Carsten Knechtges finished fourth in position four of their class. The experienced drivers showed a nearly flawless performance and brought home their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #57 in position 23 overall.

The BLACK FALCON top entry Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6 was part of the leading cars for a long time after Hubert Haupt, Gerwin and Andreas Simonsen started from position four. Short before the end of the race the car crashed into the barriers when the rain came back at some parts of the track. Therefore the AMG GT3 was the only of five Black Falcon cars that didn´t make it to the finish.

Despite the crash Black Falcon-CEO Alex Böhm was satisfied with the race: “After the 8th VLN race two weeks ago we came back stronger this time. The class victory and fastest lap time in SP7 are great results. We´ve won five times in VLN and the 24 hours race with this car during the year. The guys in our Porsche Cayman GT4 CS showed their great potential today. Manuel set the fastest time in the division and made clear that our car works perfect. Despite the difficult weather conditions all four Porsche cars made it to the finish without a scratch - a perfect job by our drivers. The Mechanics as always managed to repair all damage from VLN8 two weeks ago and all cars ran without any problems. They deserve much credit and recognition for their work. Now we´re looking forward to the season´s finale in two weeks time.

The last race of the 2016 VLN season takes places on 22 October. The 41. DMV Münsterlandpokal will see a regular four hours distance and can be followed live on the internet.

Bildquelle: Akl Yazbeck / Sportscode Images