Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON have won the Qualifying Race that acts as the curtain raiser for the legendary Nürburgring 24 Hours. The team’s SP9-class #5 Mercedes-AMG GT3 battled for the overall lead from early on in the six-hour race and eventually took a hard-fought victory, pushed all the way to the line by their competitors. All three BLACK FALCON AMG GT3 finished strongly in an event that featured 91 quality entries, delivering important results that will improve the team’s position for the main 24-hour race next month. BLACK FALCON also won the V6 class for production cars. 

Team Black Falcon’s return to the SP9 class in VLN has delivered an excellent second position overall in the second race of the championship, with their #14 Mercedes-AMG GT3 finishing just 8 seconds behind the winner. The AMG led at several points across the four-hour endurance event at the Nürburgring. Hard driving and the quick turnarounds by the pit-crew brought them so close to victory, and #14’s strong finish was supplemented by the second AMG GT3 also taking a top 10 result, a win in the V6 class and another podium in SP10 to backup the SP10 class victory scored in the opening round of VLN.

Team BLACK FALCON's preparations to launch into the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup are well underway. The team participated in the official pre-season test days, which took take place on March 13th and 14th ahead of next month’s opening round of the championship proper. Having won the Hankook 24 Hours Dubai in dominant style back in January – for an impressive fourth time since 2011 – BLACK FALCON will be looking to build on that great start to the year with their three-car, full-season assault on the endurance element of the Blancpain series. Once again the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will feature teams of the highest quality racing the most aspirational and powerful GT cars around, with the championship highlight being June’s prestigious Spa 24 Hours.

Team BLACK FALCON have begun 2018 in the best possible fashion, taking first place overall in the 24 Hours Dubai. This year’s win – achieved in dominating style by the star line-up of Abdulaziz Al Faisal (Saudi Arabia), Hubert Haupt (Germany), Yelmer Buurman (Netherlands) and Gabriele Piana (Italy) in their Mercedes-AMG GT3 – brings the team’s tally of results in this gruelling endurance marathon to an impressive four victories since 2011, plus four further podium finishes. Abudulaziz, Hubert and Yelmer celebrated repeat wins in Dubai, with new team-mate Gabriele picking up his first winner’s trophy in the UAE.