BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN and W&S Motorsport with class victories at the 24-hour race

• Hardt, Hites, Koslowski and Meijer from BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#900) secure Cup 2 class victory after a comeback in the early stages of the race
• W&S Motorsport (#962) with Miemois, Oberheim, Stegmann and Wiedmann win Cup 3 class from pole position
• Largest field to date in the Cup 2 and Cup 3 classes, with 28 entrants from the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring

Nürburg. Although the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring does not count as a championship race for the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring (PETN), a total of 28 cars from the one-make series competed in Cup 2 and Cup 3 at the endurance classic in the Eifel under identical technical regulations, making this the largest field of entrants to date in both classes. After an impressive comeback, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#900), driven by Alexander Hardt, Benjamin Hites, Benjamin Koslowski and Paul Meijer, which started in 96th place overall, took the lead in Cup 2 early on and defended it right to the finish line. In Cup 3, last year’s winners W&S Motorsport (#962) led the class for much of the race and repeated their success of the previous year with Philip Miemois, Moritz Oberheim, Lorenz Stegmann and Niclas Wiedmann.

One-two finish for Black Falcon’s sister cars

Following an early crash in the first qualifying session on Thursday afternoon, the BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN car number 900 had to switch to a replacement car and set it up at short notice. Due to the time taken for repairs and the worse track conditions in the subsequent qualifying sessions, the quartet of Alexander Hardt, Benjamin Hites, Benjamin Koslowski and Paul Meijer could only qualify in ninth place in class and 96th overall. At the start, this meant a gap of over 40 cars to pole-sitter Mühlner Motorsport (#918) with Michelle Gatting, Michael Rebhan, Nick Salewsky and Tim Scheerbarth. However, after a rapid recovery, starting driver Alexander Hardt fought his way into the leading group during the first stint, and his team mate Benjamin Hites took the lead shortly afterwards. After 148 laps, the quartet ultimately finished in 18th place overall, ahead of the sister car from Team LIQUY MOLY by BLACK FALCON with Ryan Harrison, Raphael Rennhofer and Leon Wassertheurer, who contested the race as a trio as team mate Noah Nagelsdiek was unable to take part due to illness.

“I’m a bit speechless – the weekend got off to a difficult start, but we fought our way up from 96th to 18th place. That’s a fantastic result for the whole team, and the team was the key factor this weekend. The car was perfect and we drivers worked really well together. I’m absolutely delighted and was able to learn a lot from the experienced drivers with whom I was lucky enough to share the car. I’d love to do it all again,” explains Benjamin Koslowski.

Victory in the AM classification went to RPM Racing (#777) with Philip Hamprecht, Patrick Huisman, Tracy Krohn and Nic Jönsson, who also secured third place on the podium in Cup 2 class. Second place in AM went to Adam Benko, Moritz Kranz, Csaba Walter and Antal Zsigo from Mühlner Motorsport (#904), ahead of Cargraphic by Kurt Ecke Motorsport (#13) with Bernd Albercht, Kurt Ecke, Mike Jäger and Andreas Sczepansky.

“It’s always a challenge coming to this track especially in mixed conditions but the car was fantastic. Despite a small incident in the last lap, we are very happy to have finished in P3 and win the AM ranking. This is the most exciting race I ever did”, sums up Tracy Krohn.

Last year's winners W&S Motorsport repeat their Cup 3 victory

Having already won the Cup 3 class last year, W&S Motorsport (#962) set the stage for another victory in the 24-hour race by securing pole position. After a hard-fought 142 laps, car number 962, driven by Philip Miemois, Moritz Oberheim, Lorenz Stegmann and Niclas Wiedmann, finally crossed the finish line first, ahead of Erik Braun, Alexander Fielenbach, Franz Linden and Oskar Sandberg from Speedworxx Automotive (#971). The podium was completed by the sister car from W&S Motorsport (#961) with Lu Chao, Michal Makes, Marius Rauer and Zhang Zhen Dong.

“It was a challenging 24-hour race with unpredictable weather conditions and strong competition, but we’re delighted to have won the class again. Racing with so many cars on the track was turbulent, but the atmosphere was brilliant,” says Lorenz Stegmann.

W&S Motorsport also achieved success in the AM classification. Axel Duffner, Oliver Kunz, Christoph Krombach and Leo-Livius Arne Weber took the win, finishing just 2:46.229 minutes ahead of Tommy Graberg, Akshay Gupta, Björn Simon and Aaron Wenisch from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport (#949). A further 2:05.445 minutes behind came Alexander Kroker, Anton Ruf, Axel Sartingen and Nils Schwenk from BLACK FALCON Team ZIMMERMANN (#939). This meant that the entire AM podium finished the 24-hour race on the same lap.

“That was my first 24-hour race, and to win it straight away in the AM classification is sensational. Our aim was simply to cross the finish line, so we’re over the moon to have managed to do that and come away with a victory as well,” says Oliver Kunz.

Following a five-week break, the next round of the PETN will take place on 20 June.

Press contact:

Jona Kläsener

PR & Social Media Manager
E-Mail: j.klaesener@manthey-racing.de