BLACK FALCON enters final race of the season at 24H COTA
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24H Series 24H COTA USA: Race Preview
Having begun its 2018 endurance racing campaign with a stunning victory in the Dubai 24 Hours, BLACK FALCON now look to bring its season to a close with a great result at the 24H COTA USA. The team’s fourth 24-hour event of the year, the 24H COTA USA will be held this weekend at the home of the US Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Circuit Of The Americas.
BLACK FALCON have entered a pair of powerful Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the top-flight A6-Pro class for GT3-homologated racecars. The #2 AMG features Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands), Hubert Haupt (Germany), Ben Keating (USA) and Luca Stolz (Germany), while #3 has the local trio of Mike Skeen (USA), Scott Heckert (USA) and Bret Curtis (USA) backed up by the vast experience of team veteran Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands).
The premier circuit in North America, the 20 turns of The Circuit of The Americas present a significant challenge, with an opening complex of swooping, interlinked switchbacks – resonant of the Maggots/Beckets complex at Silverstone – followed by a kilometre-long back straight that leads into a fast but tight final sector. Drivers need a car that can perform across all sectors – which is exactly what BLACK FALCON’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 has proved it can deliver across a variety of endurance events this year. The 24H COTA USA is split into two segments, with an overnight break after an eleven-and-a-half hour opening phase on Saturday. The race will then restart early on Sunday morning, picking up from Saturday’s race positions and running through to the finish that evening. A clever strategy will be required to deal with the unique format, so all of BLACK FALCON’s experience across its drivers, mechanics, and engineers will come into play.
Live timing and streaming video coverage of the sessions from Qualifying onwards will be available at 24hseries.com. You can also keep up to date with Team BLACK FALCON’s activity across all social media platforms: follow the team via twitter.com/TeamBlackFalcon, facebook.com/teamblackfalcon/ and instagram.com/teamblackfalcon to get live action updates directly from the track, as well as fantastic images of the team in action.
24H COTA, USA: November 16th to 18th
Provisional Race Timetable (local time / German time)
Friday 16 November
13:00-14:30 / 20:00-21:30 Free Practice
16:45-17:30 / 23:45-00:30 Qualifying *
19:00-20:30 / 02:00-03:30 (+1 day) Night training *
Saturday 17 November
09:50 / 16:50 Starting grid *
10:30 / 17:30 Start 24H COTA USA *
23:00 / 06:00 (+1 day) Intervention - all the cars to the Parc Fermé *
Sunday, November 18th
08:00 / 15:00 Start for the second segment of the 24H COTA USA *
19:30 / 02:30 Finish of the 24H COTA USA *
* Livestream: https://24hseries.com