Podium for BLACK FALCON at Blancpain Endurance Cup season opener in Monza

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Team BLACK FALCON’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 entries have scored a fantastic overall podium result at the opening round of the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, as well as second place in the Silver Cup. With three AMG entered in a high-quality field that contained 53 cars from 12 manufacturers, the team faced opposition of the highest caliber but came away from the home of the Italian Grand Prix with important points and positive feelings for the season ahead.

The Pro-class #4 Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON starred the trio of multiple race-winners Maro Engel (Germany), Yelmer Buurman (The Netherlands) and Luca Stolz (Germany. #5’s driver squad made their Blancpain Pro-Am Cup debut together at Monza: Kriton Lendoudis (Greece), Saud Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia) and Rui Aguas (Portugal) made excellent progress across the weekend. #6 was competing in the Silver Cup, its drivers team veterans Hubert Haupt (Germany) and Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia) alongside new team-mate Gabriele Piana (Italy).

BLACK FALCON’s AMG were quick from the off, with the all-Pro #4 crew unsurprisingly right at the sharp end from Free Practice onwards. Lap-times were incredibly tight all through the opening sessions, but the AMG all performed well in their respective classes. The three-part Qualifying meant that the lap-times set by each of the three drivers would be crucial: the sessions were combined and averaged to set each car’s grid position, making it a true team effort. Aggressive laps for #4 resulted in an excellent sixth on the grid – just two tenths of a second from pole – with #6 in 25th overall and #5 in 52nd. The drivers of #5 couldn’t be disappointed with their position, as they were only just over two seconds from overall pole in an incredibly competitive pack and also on their first run-out in the Blancpain series; they would only get faster over the course of the event.

The three-hour race went green at 15:00 CET, the 53 entries thundering through Parabolica. Maro’s experience paid dividends right from the start: his quick reaction to the green lights on the run down to the start-line allowed him to pounce, taking three positions in the blink of an eye and challenging for second as the huge pack stormed toward the first corner. Despite a brief moment on the grass as the field spread out four-wide before hitting the brakes for the tight opening chicane, Hubert navigated through safely, while Kriton also avoided the scuffles in the midfield to make it through his first lap cleanly.

The first hour saw Maro pile on the pressure at the front, while Hubert moved inexorably forward in #6 – he made up over 10 places during his stint. Kriton took a similar number of positions, making great strides in #5. 50 minutes into the race, a short Full Course Caution was thrown to remove debris from the circuit, limiting the cars to a set speed around the track and freezing positions. Maro again showed his class, timing the end of the caution perfectly to catch the Jaguar ahead napping and move swiftly into second.

With the first pitstops complete around the hour mark, Luca strapped into #4 and right on the tail of the leading Ferrari, it looked good for BLACK FALCON. But as the second hour wore on there was a huge disappointment for the team, as #4 was one of a large number of cars penalized for exceeding the speed limit during the earlier FCY. Luca was forced to take #4 through the pits, dropping 10 places in the process. There was better news for #6: with Abdulaziz now behind the wheel they were circulating in 12th, right behind the delayed #4 AMG. Saud had jumped into #5, and was now cementing his place in the top 40.

Luca got his head down, and lap after lap won back positions: he was up to sixth by the end of his stint. Yelmer took over #4 for the final hour and was straight into action: he quickly battled up to fourth, and spent the last half-hour looking for a way to prise open a way to the final podium spot. Lap after lap he piled on the pressure, until with six minutes to go he finally managed to muscle past the Lamborghini into the first corner, playing back-marker traffic perfectly and sending the BLACK FALCON crew back in the pit garage wild. He pulled away in the dying minutes to solidify third place, and not far behind him, Gabriele brought home #6 in a fine 10th overall, second in the Silver Cup class. Rui took #5 across the line in a commendable 29th, eighth on their debut in the 13-strong Pro-Am Cup class.

BLACK FALCON’s drivers delivered great results and showed excellent speed throughout the race, and as usual the pit crew and mechanics delivered a faultless performance. #4 finished just 12 seconds behind the eventual winner, so although the penalty was disappointing it reinforces that the AMG has the potential to win. The next opportunity to demonstrate just that comes next month at the home of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone, where Team BLACK FALCON will be back out in force and hungry for even better results. You can support the team across all social media platforms: follow them 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.

RACE DATES
Blancpain Endurance Series
Round 2: 19-20 May (Silverstone)
Round 3: 1-2 June (Paul Ricard)
Test Day: 3 July (Spa)
Round 4: 26-29 July (Spa 24 Hours)
Round 5: 29-30 September (Barcelona)