Customer Racing: VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring: Third place and class wins for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport at the Nürburgring

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport was able to score a strong team result in the third round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft. In difficult and changeable conditions in the Eifel, the #14 Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON celebrated a podium success in third place overall. With the BLACK FALCON Team AutoArena Motorsport car with starting number 6 and the Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON entry with starting number 16, two further cars from Affalterbach made it into the top ten. Victory for Team GetSpeed Rooster Rojo in the SP9 PRO-AM class and first place for BLACK FALCON Team IDENTICA in the SP10 class rounded out the successful achievement by the sports car and performance brand from Affalterbach.

• In total three Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the top ten
• Third place for driver quartet Christodoulou/Engel/Metzger/Müller
• Class win in SP9 PRO-AM for Hill/Schiller/Shoffner
• GT4 class victory for the trio Müller/Scheerbarth/Viidas

Nürburgring – Right in time for the third round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft, changeable weather had its effect on the Eifel region. In qualifying, teams already had to cope with rain setting in, also resulting into a delay of the race start. Some 20 minutes later than scheduled, five Mercedes-AMG GT3 and three Mercedes-AMG GT4 finally took on the showdown in the Green Hell on Saturday afternoon, their drivers highly motivated.

During qualifying in the morning, the #14 Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON had bad luck and didn’t get a clean lap while conditions were still dry, starting driver Maro Engel (GER) having to take on the race from 16^th place on the grid as a result. In the opening stages of the race, the German managed to make up some positions already and established himself in the top ten. Manuel Metzger (GER) and Adam Christodoulou (GBR) built on the good performance by their teammate, the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number 14 made it all the way up into fourth place. On a drying track, the team changed to slick tyres just before the end of the race. This tactical move enabled final driver Dirk Müller (GER) to make up another considerable amount of time. The team concluded the race in third place overall and thus sealed the first podium success of the year in the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport.

The #6 BLACK FALCON Team AutoArena Motorsport entry with drivers Patrick Assenheimer, Nico Bastian (both GER) and Yelmer Buurman (NED) secured another top ten result for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport with seventh place. The car with starting number 16 of the Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON with Maximilian Buhk, Hubert Haupt and Luca Stolz (all GER) claimed tenth place.

The team GetSpeed Rooster Rojo with Janine Hill (GBR), Fabian Schiller (GER) and John Shoffner (USA) secured victory in the SP9 PRO-AM class with the #23 Mercedes-AMG GT3. In the overall classification, the team ended up in 13^th place.

For the Customer Racing Team GetSpeed Performance with the driver quartet of Kenneth Heyer, Jan Seyffarth (both GER), Tristan Vautier (FRA) and Renger van der Zande (NED), the race was less favourable. After a strong opening part that saw Van der Zande temporarily move up from P8 to fourth place, an opponent collided with the #2 Mercedes-AMG GT3, so that the team saw its race coming to a premature end in the gravel bed.

Mercedes-AMG GT4 with another class victory

In the SP10 class, the BLACK FALCON Team IDENTICA showed another strong performance. Tim Scheerbath, Tobias Müller (both GER) and Tristan Viidas (EST) secured the class victory with the #162 Mercedes-AMG GT4, repeating their success from the first round of the season.

The third round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft also served as another important and successful test for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in preparation for the season highlight in the Eifel, the Nürburgring 24-hour race (20-23 June). From 18-19 May already, the ADAC Qualifikationsrennen 24h-Rennen is scheduled as the prologue for the legendary endurance racing classic.

The next round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft, the 50^th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy, will be taking place at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife on 13 July.

Maro Engel, Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON #14: “Today, it was a very good preparation race that actually included all the conditions one can find at the Nürburgring. In the race, we have shown a good performance. That was a strong comeback after qualifying in which we had a lot of bad luck and weren’t on track in the right time window and were unable to complete a clear lap while conditions were still dry as a result.”

Patrick Assenheimer, BLACK FALCON Team AutoArena Motorsport #6: “With the top ten result in a really tough rain race, we can be happy. Today’s race with heavy rain and changeable conditions was a good test with regard to the Nürburgring 24-hour race. We can build on this.”

John Shoffner, GetSpeed Rooster Rojo #23: “This is a great, yet unexpected victory. Conditions were very bad today, even though they slightly improved towards the end of the race. All drivers have done a tremendous job, the car was outstanding. We are really happy with this victory.”

Luca Stolz, Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON #16: “Unfortunately, qualifying didn’t go well for us. Having to start the race from 20^th place on the grid in these difficult weather conditions with extremely poor visibility is anything but ideal. Conditions were extremely demanding today. There was a lot of aquaplaning, particularly at the Grand Prix circuit. Here, I also had a spin in the first corner, thankfully without any consequences.”

Tim Scheerbarth, BLACK FALCON Team IDENTICA #162: “We started with used rain tyres. On the opening lap, we managed to move up from P3 to P1 straight away. On laps three and four, conditions then were really tough, many cars slid off the track. However, we kept cool. The rain got less like we hoped and we were able to benefit from our rain tyres. We have already won the second VLN race in the SP10 class this season, something that is obviously making us very happy.”

Result VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft round 3*:

* excerpt subject to confirmation by the organisers