Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe – Race Report Round 2, Misano

BLACK FALCON achieved two top-5 results at the second Blancpain GT World Series Europe event in Misano. On Saturday the Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Maro Engel (DE) and Luca Stolz (DE) crossed the finish line in third place. At the fourth race of the season on Sunday, the number 4 AMG finished fourth after a great race to catch up from eleventh on the grid. After the second of five race weekends BLACK FALCON leads the team ranking of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe. Engel and Stolz also claim the championship lead in the drivers' standings with these good results.

At the third race of the season on the 4.2 km long Misano World Circuit on Saturday evening, Stolz, who started from sixth position, started a race to catch up right from the start of the race. He completed a strong first stint and handed the car over to his team-mate Engel in third position adjusted for the pit-stops. The two leaders were already a few seconds ahead at this point, so Maro Engel brought the AMG home in third position.

On Sunday noon the race started with swapped reels: Maro Engel went into the race from position 11 and fought some intense battles in the dense midfield. With a perfectly timed pit stop directly after a safety car phase, the team made up several places. Luca Stolz returned to the track in fifth place and began a hunt to close the gap. After a lap-long fight for fourth position he finally found the right gap and then took to the front. He set the fastest lap of the race and reduced the gap to third place lap by lap, leaving only a few hundredths of a second short of fourth podium in the fourth race.

Quotes on the weekend

Sean Paul Breslin (Team Principal BLACK FALCON GT): "We experienced a mixed weekend with an improvable performance in qualifying and a strong performance in both races. The team worked very well and quickly found a suitable set-up on a circuit that was new for us. We're now focusing on the preparations for the 24h Spa and the sprint race at Zandvoort".

Maro Engel (driver #4): "We can be very satisfied with both races. The starting position in the second race was difficult, but we made the best of it and scored important points. It wasn't an easy weekend, so many thanks to Luca and the whole team for the hard work!

Luca Stolz (driver #4): "It was a good weekend for us throughout. We're very happy to have scored points again, so we're still championship leaders. We still have a little work to do to improve our performance in qualifying. Nevertheless, the team did a great job. We have to build on the performance now to be able to win some races in the future".

Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe - Preview Round 2, Misano

No rest for the BLACK FALCON GT department: After the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, the second race weekend (28 - 30 June) of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe in Misano, Italy, is already on the agenda this week. BLACK FALCON competes as usual with the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the drivers Maro Engel (DE) and Luca Stolz (DE), who already won the first race of the season at the season opener in the British Brands Hatch on Sunday and finished second on Saturday. The team travels to the Misano World Circuit as the leader in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe driver and team standings. For BLACK FALCON, the race at Misano is a premiere: the Meuspath team has not yet participated in a race on the 4.226 km long track on the Adriatic coast.

During all race weekends of the Blancpain GT World Challenge there will be two sprint races over one hour each. Prior to this, two 20-minute qualifying sessions, one for each driver, decide on the starting positions for races 1 and 2. During the races, a 10-minute time window opens at halftime for a mandatory pit stop including driver change. The results of the races, together with those of the Endurance Cup, are included in the Blancpain GT Series overall standings to determine an overall champion from sprint and endurance races.

Event Schedule (All times CET)
Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe - Misano

Friday, June 28^th
13:40 - 15:00 1. Free practice
17:30 - 18:50 2. Free practice

Saturday, June 29^th
14:30 - 14:50 1st Qualifying *
15:00 - 15:20 2nd Qualifying *
19:45 - 20:45 1st race *

Sunday, June 30^th
14:00 - 15:00 2nd race *

* Livestream: https://blancpain-gt-series.com

TV broadcasting, live streaming and social media
For all qualifying sessions and races, an extensive live streaming service including live timing is available on the official Blancpain GT Series website, YouTube and Facebook channel. Further information about Team BLACK FALCON is available daily on the team's social media channels:

instagram.com/teamblackfalcon          facebook.com/teamblackfalcon

24h-Race Nürburgring - Race Report

BLACK FALCON achieved second place overall at the 47th edition of the 24h race at the Nürburgring. Maximilian Buhk (DE), Hubert Haupt (DE), Thomas Jäger (DE) and Luca Stolz (DE) finished third overall with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in an action-packed race, but the result was subsequently corrected by the organising ADAC in favour of BLACK FALCON with the disqualification of the Porsche starting number 911, which had been second up to then. In the SP10 class, Marek Böckmann (DE), Yannick Mettler (CH), Tobias Müller (DE) and Tristan Viidas (EST) won with the Mercedes-AMG GT4 #70. The quartet fought an exciting duel for the class lead for almost the entire duration of the race. BLACK FALCON even celebrated a double victory in the V6 class production cars: Alexander Akimenkov (RU), Ronny Lethmate (DE), Carlos Rivas (LU) and Vasilii Selivanov (RU) won with the Porsche 991 Carrera #133, their team mates Christoph Hoffmann (DE), Carsten Palluth (DE), Tobias Wahl (DE) and Robert Woodside (GB) crossed the finish line in an identical car with the #132 in second place. In the SP7 class Peter Ludwig (US), Maik Rosenberg (DE), "Takis" (CH) and Dennis Trebing (US) finished third. The AMG GT4 #46 by Stefan Karg (DE), Mustafa Mehmet Kaya (TR), Reinhold Renger (DE) and Mike Stursberg (DE) finished sixth in the SP8T after a collision through no fault of their own. The two Mercedes-AMG GT3 with start numbers 2 and 6 were eliminated prematurely due to accidents.

24h Race Nürburgring – Preview

BLACK FALCON competes in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring with a massive line-up of eight cars: The team from Meuspath for the first time enters three factory-supported Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the strongest class SP9. Furthermore, the team deploys a Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the SP10 class for GT4 vehicles and another AMG GT4 in the more powerful SP8T class for the 47th edition of the endurance classic. In the SP7 class, BLACK FALCON sends a Porsche 991 GT3 Cup MR II into the race to fight for class victory. In addition, two Porsche 991 Carrera production cars in the V6 class compete for the fifth V6 class victory in a row for BLACK FALCON. The biggest motor race in the world takes place this coming weekend (22/23 June) on the 25.378 km long combination of the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. Up to 200,000 fans are expected for the 24-hour marathon, creating a party atmosphere around the circuit. The race is broadcasted live for 25 hours on RTL Nitro and around the clock on the Internet.