Team BLACK FALCON have scored a V6 class podium finish at the end of the third race of the 2017 VLN championship, whilst also bringing home all three of their Porsche entries in solid positions. As ever there was a large field for the race, with 144 cars of massively varying performance taking part.

 

Three Porsches were entered under the BLACK FALCON Team TMD Friction banner. The #57 Porsche 991 Cup that was due to compete in the SP7 class unfortunately had to be withdrawn from the race following accident damage sustained in an open session the previous day. That caused a reshuffle of the driver line-ups, and also led to a V6 911 taking up the #57’s entry. The #394 Porsche 991 Carrera driver squad in class V6 comprised Thomas Bolz (Germany) and Olaf Schlüter (Germany) bolstered by Fidel Lieb (Germany). The second V6 entry was the #420 Porsche 991 Carrera, which featured Axel König (Germany), and Norbert Schneider (Germany) behind the wheel. There was a new driver pairing in the class V5 #448 Porsche 981 Cayman: Alexander Akimenkov (Russian Federation) and countryman Vasilii Selivanov (Russian Federation) moved up from their regular drive with Team BLACK FALCON in the Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring to take part in this third VLN race of 2017.

 

Qualifying took place under light cloud, the temperature far lower than were expected for the race later in the day. Strong winds also blew across the Nürburgring, keeping the flags around the track snapping in the stiff breeze and giving drivers something to think about in braking areas. Traffic is also always an issue around the Nordschleife: fractions of seconds lost overtaking cars can quickly mount up around such a long lap. So, at the end of the 90-minute session the team were happy that #394 set the third quickest time in the V6 class, 60th overall, with #420 one place behind them in class but 86th overall. The #448 drivers set the seventh fastest time in V5, so would line up 95th overall. 

 

The clouds had been blown away by the time the race approached, giving way to blazing sunshine that would last the entire race. Following a formation lap, the initial wave of GT3 and Cup cars burst over the horizon to take the midday start. Team BLACK FALCON’s trio of Porsches followed through in the second wave of around 50 cars and were right in the midst of the action. But all three cars made it safely through the melee, around the opening loop of the Grand Prix track and out onto the Nordschleife for the first time. The drivers of #394 retained their third position throughout the race, finishing 55th overall at the flag. They greatly deserved their podium place at the end of a tough four hours of racing, although they were disappointed that not to be able to close on the V6 cars in front. #420 made up an excellent 29 places over the course of the race, cementing their fourth position in class to finish 57th overall and bettering their qualifying lap time in the process. Alexander and Vasilii in #448 completed their first VLN race together in 85th, taking eighth in the hard-fought V5 class. 

 

There’s just a short break of two weeks until the next VLN round, where Team BLACK FALCON will again be out in force. You can support the team across all social media platforms: follow the team via twitter.com/TeamBlackFalcon, facebook.com/teamblackfalcon/ and instagram.com/teamblackfalcon to get live action updates direct from the tracks, as well as fantastic images of the team in action.

 

RACE DATES

VLN 2017

VLN4: 08 July (47. Adenauer ADAC Worldpeace Trophy)

VLN5: 19 August (ROWE 6 Hour ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen)

VLN6: 02 September (40. RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen)

VLN7: 23 September (57. ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen)

VLN8: 07 October (49. ADAC Barbarossapreis)

VLN9: 21 October (42. DMV Münsterlandpokal)