A fortnight after their victory in the sixth season round of the VLN endurance series, the HARIBO Racing Team-AMG celebrates yet another podium finish at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife after a thrilling finish with the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3: Uwe Alzen, Lance David Arnold and Jan Seyffarth (all GER) claimed second place after 43 laps in the ROWE 6 Stunden ADAC Ruhr-Pokal Rennen. BLACK FALCON finishes sixth with the #7 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
All four Mercedes-AMG clearly made their mark in qualifying on Saturday morning as they all finished in the top five in a close performance. With the fabulous lap time of 7 min. 54.497 sec., Manuel Metzger (GER) established a new qualifying record at the Nordschleife with the #7 BLACK FALCON Mercedes-AMG GT3 and secured pole position. Only 41 hundredths of a second down, Lance David Arnold was classified second. The second BLACK FALCON Mercedes-AMG GT3 with starting number #6 qualified fourth with Maro Engel (GER) behind the wheel, setting a lap time of 7 min. 57.099 sec. One position further down, the #16 AMG-Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 followed with a time of 7min. 58.193 sec.
In the sunshine and with dry conditions throughout, the six-hours’ VLN season highlight was marked by continuous lead changes, varying tactics and a dramatic finish. After qualifying, the race promised to be a duel between Mercedes-AMG and Audi. However, Porsche and BMW also provided plenty of excitement and variety at the front of the field of 156 competitors, including 14 cars in the SP9 class, and thus staged a thrilling and entertaining race, in which the closing stages brought plenty of action.
Lance David Arnold, Uwe Alzen and Jan Seyffarth put in a faultless performance throughout the race and were clearly on course for a podium finish. A slow puncture with 25 minutes remaining, forced final driver Alzen to come in for an unscheduled pit stop that made the Bonn-based race team drop back from third to fifth. However, the 49-year-old showed off his skills, overtook an opponent and moved up one position.
A new distance record in the six-hour race
In a dramatic finale, the HARIBO Racing Team-AMG benefited from mistakes by the opposition. 43 laps of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife meant a new distance record for the six-hour race. The cars that were running in second and third place weren’t prepared for that additional lap. With one minute remaining, the third-placed car had to come in for another pit stop and the car that was running second came to a halt with an empty fuel tank only a few hundred metres ahead of the finish line. Thus, the road was clear for Uwe Alzen and the HARIBO Racing Team-AMG to take second place.
The three other Mercedes-AMG also had excellent chances of a good result, but didn’t have the necessary luck on their side. The BLACK FALCON car with starting number #7 that had started from pole position dropped back following a puncture. However, Yelmer Buurman (NED), Hubert Haupt (GER), Manuel Metzger and Gerwin Schuring (NED) showed a competitive spirit and eventually came home in sixth place. The #6 AMG-Team BLACK FALCON Mercedes-AMG GT3 already lost its chances after a technical issue 45 minutes into the race. Thus, for Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA), Maro Engel and Adam Christodoulou (GBR), all hopes of a position up front were beyond reach. Also bad luck for the #16 AMG-Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3: After a collision, the team initially was able to continue, but then had to come in for another pit stop to repair consequential damage while in the lead. Eventually, Dominik Baumann (AUT), Nico Bastian (GER), Clemens Schmid (AUT) and Jules Szymkowiak (NED) finished in 23rd place.
Uwe Alzen, HARIBO Racing Team-AMG #8: “Absolutely crazy – that was a thriller that I really don’t need every weekend, but, of course, it was great motorsport for the spectators. After the unscheduled stop with three laps remaining, I didn’t believe we could pull this off, but I pushed as hard as I could. Then, when I saw the Audi standing along the track just ahead of the finish line, I obviously was super happy with second place.”
Jan Seyffarth, HARIBO Racing Team-AMG #8: “Just before the end, we had to come in for another pit stop due to a slow puncture, which made us drop back. But then, Uwe gave it all he had and showed great overtaking moves. We are mega happy, but, of course, we also were lucky with opponents either retiring or having to pit.”
Jochen Bitzer, head of AMG Customer Sports: “Second and sixth place are very good results, given this action-packed race. Our teams really battled in a great way. Unfortunately, three cars were rather unlucky today. Second place for HARIBO Racing Team-AMG is all the more beautiful for it, they put in a sensational finish.”