Falken Motorsports bad luck continues at third round of the NLS
After Falken Motorsports impressed with a strong second place overall at the season opener of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), the Porsche 911 GT3 R with starting number 44 was denied the necessary racing luck at the third round of the season, the 57th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy: Klaus Bachler and Benjamin Leuchter had to retire the turquoise blue crowd favourite prematurely after a promising opening phase due to a defect and thus did not see the necessary racing luck in the third round of the season, the 57th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy. Checkered flag.
In the morning qualifying, Klaus Bachler had put the Falken Porsche in seventh place on the grid with a commanding lap and got involved in thrilling duels with the leading group in the early stages of the race. At the first stop, teammate Benjamin Leuchter took the wheel, who was able to keep within reach of the podium places with a solid and flawless drive. Shortly after the halfway point of the race, however, the Falken crew's hopes of clinching the second podium finish of the year were dealt a bitter blow.
Damage to the right rear wheel, on the first half of the legendary Nordschleife of all places, forced Leuchter to park the popular Falken Porsche prematurely in order to prevent consequential damage. The sudden loss of pressure, which had not been announced before, suggests that the damage was caused by a foreign object. In the early stages of the race, numerous accidents occurred, which led to several caution phases and a track that was sometimes heavily dirty.
On the other hand, there was great joy for the Falken customer team Max Kruse Racing: The Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Dominik Fugel and Marcel Fugel, powered by alternative fuel, as well as double starter Benjamin Leuchter, finished in a strong fifth place overall and won the "AT1" class. The sister car of Jan Jaap van Roon, Tom Coronel and Christian Kohlhaas, which retired early after an accident, was less lucky. The team's two TCR cars completed the result and finished 37th and 82nd overall.
Falken Motorsports will return to the Green Hell next weekend as part of the ADAC 24h Qualifiers. On both Saturday (18 April) and Sunday (19 April), two four-hour races will take place on the Nordschleife in preparation for the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (14 to 17 May), with the first race on Saturday running into the early evening hours and thus until nightfall.