Fourth SP8T class victory and successful Cayman premiere for BLACK FALCON

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Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - Race Report Round 4 2020

BLACK FALCON continued its winning streak in the SP8T class at the fourth round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS). Mustafa Mehmet Kaya, Gabriele Piana and Mike Stursberg pushed the Mercedes-AMG GT4 (#155) up to 15th place overall and secured the fourth consecutive SP8T class victory for the BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR. In the CUP3 class the team from Meuspath made a premiere: For the first time the Porsche Cayman GT4 (#950), which was acquired at the beginning of the season, took part in the NLS. In the highly competitive "Cayman GT4 Trophy" class, the team crossed the finish line in seventh place and thus celebrated a successful debut. The Porsche 991 GT3 Cup MR SP-PRO (#350) did not see the chequered flag for the first time this year.

The 43rd RCM DMV Grenzenland Rennen was characterised by demanding weather conditions. The one and a half hour qualifying started on time at 8:30 am in heavy rain. By the time the race started at 12 noon the bad weather had passed and the drying track made tyre choice for the start one of the most important decisions of the day. BLACK FALCON sent all three cars into the race on dry tyres, which turned out to be the right decision during the first laps. In the course of the race, the notorious "Eifel weather" then showed its other side and put the fitness of the participants to the test with temperatures above the 30°C mark.

The Mercedes-AMG GT4 of the BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR started the race from pole position in the SP8T. Starting driver Gabriele Piana pulled away from the second place in the class lap by lap and at the same time conquered positions in the overall classification. For the middle stint, Mustafa Mehmet Kaya entered the over 500 hp AMG. In his first NLS race this year, the reigning SP8T champion continued the strong performance of the previous season and took the car in the lead (SP8T class) to the pits for the last handover. Final driver Mike Stursberg captured further positions in the overall standings and crossed the finish line after 26 laps as class winner in the SP8T and an outstanding fifteenth overall.

In the "Cayman GT4 Trophy" class CUP3 only Porsche Cayman GT4s compete against each other. At the team-internal premiere of the new Porsche Cayman GT4, the quartet of drivers Alexander Böhm, "Iceman", Christian Reiter and Ersin Yücesan set the sixth fastest time in qualifying for the BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR in the class with its 11 cars. BLACK FALCON debutant Yücesan took over the start and benefited from the right tyre choice when a large number of the class competitors headed for the pit lane for an additional tyre change after the first few laps. After his strong debut he handed the car over to "Iceman", who also completed a flawless stint. Then Christian Reiter, who had already competed in races for BLACK FALCON in BMW times, got into the car. For the final laps, Böhm took over the Porsche and brought it to the finish in 40th overall position and seventh in the class.

The Porsche 991 GT3 Cup MR SP-PRO with the starting number 350 entered by BLACK FALCON Team IDENTICA started the race from pole position in the SP-PRO class. Start driver Tobias Müller ensured a good track position in the first race laps, before teammate Marek Böckmann had to avoid another car in a high-speed section over the grass in the second stint. A short time later the Porsche had to be retired with consequential damage.

Timo Frings, Head of Motorsport at BLACK FALCON, summarized the 4th NLS race: "The fourth NLS race was certainly the most difficult one so far. Thanks to years of experience we had the perfect strategy in the race despite the initially unclear track conditions.
In the SP8T we won again and are still unbeaten - it can't go better! We are also very happy that Mehmet can be back at the grid after the forced break due to travel restrictions.
The premiere of the Cayman was also a great success. The car easily completed the race distance and our drivers brought the Porsche to seventh place without a scratch - an excellent result in the CUP3 class, which is largely made up of semi-professional racers and up-and-coming young drivers. Without the Corona restrictions, the Cayman would have been in action since NLS1 with Alexander Akimenkov, Vasilii Selivanov and Tristan Viidas. As soon as the travel restrictions allow, we will compete with the designated trio of regular drivers.
The failure of the Cup MR is of course unfortunate, but Marek did everything right in the situation and prevented an accident with the slower car. Many thanks to the whole team for the again very strong performance!

The next round of NLS will take place on August 29th and will be the season highlight of the endurance series. At the only six-hour race of the season, which is also the dress rehearsal for the 24-hour race at the end of September, BLACK FALCON will start with a strong line-up. Detailed information will follow shortly on the social media channels of BLACK FALCON:

instagram.com/teamblackfalcon          facebook.com/teamblackfalcon