Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Round 4: 24h Spa preview

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This weekend, BLACK FALCON is going to face the most competitive GT race in the world. The 2018 edition of the infamous Spa 24 Hours is the 70^th running of the prestigious race and round four of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The race features a roster of winners that reads like a who’s-who of motorsports greats running 65 cars in five different classes, half of them being Pro entries. The Spa 24 is the race that every team and driver wants on their CV, and BLACK FALCON will be on maximum attack in Belgium to achieve the best results possible. Points are available after 6, 12 and 24 hours, so it will be a pivotal weekend for the team’s championship hopes – to consolidate their existing lead in Silver Cup, further improve their position in Pro-Am and for the #4 crew to bring themselves back up to the sharp end in the Pro class. 

The AMG factory-backed, Pro class #4 Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON AMG GT3 features Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands), Maro Engel (Germany) and Luca Stolz (Germany). Their car sports the livery of the 320 Changes Direction initiative (www.changedirection.org). This charity was founded by Talinda Bennington, wife of Chester, the late vocalist with the multi-million selling group Linkin Park, to support people with mental health issues. 

The driver line-up for the #5 AMG in the Pro-Am class comprises regular drivers Rui Aguas (Portugal), Saud Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia) and Kriton Lendoudis (Greece), who for this 24-hour race are bolstered by the vast experience of Tom Onslow-Cole (Great Britain). After a solid start to their debut season in the championship, the drivers of #5 scored an excellent podium at Paul Ricard and will be looking to capitalise on the round-the-clock race at Spa to gain even more experience. They currently stand fourth in the Pro-Am Teams standings, within just a handful of points of the teams ahead. 

The full-season drivers of the Silver Cup #6 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia), Hubert Haupt (Germany) and Gabriele Piana (Italy), are backed up by Manuel Metzger (Germany) for Spa. The #6 crew have been both fast and consistent throughout 2018, never off the class podium having scored second at Monza, a win at Silverstone and another fine second at Paul Ricard. Spa gives #6’s drivers an opportunity to further stretch their lead in the Silver Cup championship. 

The opening sessions for the weekend’s actions kick off on Thursday July 24th. It will be a packed day, with Free Practice in the morning, followed by Pre-Qualifying, Qualifying and Night Qualifying as the darkness draws in. Friday evening will feature the excitement of the Super Pole session, a shoot-out that will see the fastest cars set out one-by-one to try and set the quickest lap and claim pole position, while the lights will go green for the main race on Saturday at 16:30 CET. One entire day later, we will see who emerges victorious. 

Full live timing and streaming video for qualifying and the race itself will be available at www.blancpain-gt-series.com/live, and you can support BLACK FALCON across all social media platforms: follow them 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
Blancpain Endurance Series

Round 4: 26-29 July (Spa 24 Hours)
Round 5: 29-30 September (Barcelona)