Preliminary report on the 24h race in Dubai
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The still of the desert is about to be shattered by the sound of hundreds of thousands of horsepower unleashed around the Dubai Autodrome, and Team BLACK FALCON will be right in the thick of the action. 2017 will barely be two weeks old when Team BLACK FALCON decamp from their Nürburgring base to make their way to the United Arab Emirates and the 12th running of the Hankook 24 Hours Dubai endurance race. With the start of another year, another packed season of racing awaits. Team BLACK FALCON’s resolution is as strong as ever: this is a race that the team have always performed well at. They’ve won overall in three of the last five editions of the 24-hour race and finished second in 2016, whilst also claiming many strong finishes in multiple other classes over the years.
At a turbulent ninth VLN race of the season BLACK FALCON brought home four cars and won class SP7. Tim Scheerbarth and Alex Toril resisted bad weather conditions and additionally set the fastest lap in their hard fought class. Stefan Karg, Runar Vatne and Manuel Metzger faced a spectacular photofinish when their Porsche Cayman GT4 CS #943 crossed the line in position four of class CUP3. The trio also set the fastest lap of their class. In the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup #57 Jürgen Bleul, Takis and Carsten Knechtges finished fourth in class SP7. Fidel Leib and Saud Al Faisal also came home fourth in the class-V5-entered Porsche Cayman. The Team Black Falcon entered Mercedes-AMG GT3 crashed out close to the end of the race when rain started to fall.
Light and shadow at VLN round 8
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At the eighth leg of VLN endurance championship only two Porsche Cayman of BLACK FALCON Team TMD Friction crossed the finish line. Three out of five BLACK FALCON cars had to be retired in great looking positions after accidents.
At the six hours race of VLN long distance championship BLACK FALCON scored one division victory and two more podium places. Also BLACK FALCON driver Manuel Metzger set a new lap record for the Nürbugring´s VLN configuration during the qualifying.
The next port of call for AMG - Team BLACK FALCON is Belgium, for the team’s third 24-hour race of the year and the penultimate round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. Following a strong second place in the Dubai 24 that kickstarted the endurance racing calendar back in January and their epic victory in May’s Nürburgring 24 Hours, AMG - Team BLACK FALCON will be looking for another great result in the legendary Spa 24 Hours. Not only that, but the team have grabbed the headlines ahead of this year’s race with the reveal of a ground-breaking tie-in with alternative rock band Linkin Park, one of the biggest bands in the world. The band have designed the stunning livery the adorns the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 #00, and will be present in Belgium to cheer the team on.