BLACK FALCON scores two podiums at Blancpain GT Series season opener

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Blancpain GT Series – Race Report Round 1, Monza

Team BLACK FALCON has scored an excellent overall Pro podium plus second place in Silver Cup at the dramatic opening round of the 2019 season, held at the iconic Monza race track in Italy. The three-hour race was held in challenging weather conditions that tested the drivers to their maximum, but the team’s two Mercedes-AMG GT3, their drivers and all the mechanics put in superlative performances to deliver strong results that set the team up for the season ahead.

The #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 raced in the Pro class for cars featuring all-professional driver line-ups. The driving roster starred the highly experienced trio of Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands), Maro Engel (Germany) and Luca Stolz (Germany). In Silver Cup, Patrick Assenheimer (Germany), Hubert Haupt (Germany) and Gabriele Piana (Italy) drove the #6 AMG. 

Overnight rain made the track treacherous for the official test sessions held ahead of the race weekend proper, but the #4 drivers powered through the conditions to set the second fastest Pro class time. The two BLACK FALCON crews settled into their rhythms across Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying, with #4 improving to third overall in the latter session, while #6 was fourth fastest in Silver Cup and just three-quarters of a second off the fastest overall lap. On Sunday morning, the all-important three-part Qualifying that would set positions for the grid became a virtual lottery as rain again lashed the royal park: half a dozen red flags interrupted the three 15 minute periods and lap times fell away by almost 20 seconds. At the end of a challenging session, the #4 crew finished up an unrepresentative 14th overall and #6 24th.

Although the rain was less torrential in the build-up to the race, the track remained soaked and all cars started the race on wet tyres behind the safety car. After five minutes splashing round Monza, the safety car was pulled in and the pack unleashed, the 46 starters creating a huge cloud of spray on the run down to the first chicane. Both Luca in #4 and Hubert in #6 edged forward during their opening stints, although half an hour in the first full course yellow period was called as two cars collided, closing the pack up and neutralizing the race for over 10 minutes. Everything had seemed to be running to plan for BLACK FALCON, but just before his stop Luca suffered contact from behind and spun, causing light damage and dropping #4 back to the tail of the midfield. Yelmer would take over the AMG in the midfield, but the team showed their quality by putting in a relentless fight-back over the next two hours. 

The track dried during the middle of the race, reducing the spray to more manageable levels but also causing dilemmas over strategy. Another long safety car period was required to clear up an accident as the second stops approached, but excellent tyre management and fine strategy calls helped the progress of both BLACK FALCON AMG. Patrick had taken over #6 from Hubert at the top of the first hour and catapulted their AMG up the order, reveling in the conditions to deliver #6 into Gabriele’s hands within the top 10 and leading Silver Cup. Similarly, Maro would take over #4 for the run to the flag on the cusp of the top 10, the team keeping both cars out slightly longer to maximize opportunities. No sooner had they taken over than yet another long caution period was required, which meant the race was condensed in a 40-minute sprint to the flag, the BLACK FALCON cars in fourth and fifth positions overall and within touching distance of the win.

It was a thrilling end to the race: Maro closed down the car ahead, taking third with 15 minutes to go. Gabriele battled hard but was forced to settle for sixth at the flag, second in Silver Cup and just half a second behind the car in front. It was a race weekend where experience and cool heads paid dividends: the team’s difficult Qualifying was more than made up for during the race, and both cars promise even stronger performances at round two in a month’s time.

Further information about Team BLACK FALCON, live updates, behind-the-scenes and driver interviews are available daily on the team's social media channels:

instagram.com/teamblackfalcon          facebook.com/teamblackfalcon

Race Dates 2019

Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 

Round 1: 13^th - 14^th April (Italy, Monza) ✅

Round 2: 11^th - 12^th May (United Kingdom, Silverstone)

Round 3: 31^st May - 1^st June (France, Paul Ricard)

Round 4: 25^th – 28^th July (Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps)

Round 5: 28^th – 29^th September (Spain, Barcelona)