Black Falcon Delivers Mercedes’ First N24 Win
Just when we thought that the race was starting to get quiet – fireworks ensued and the excitement continued right until the chequered flag. It was a great performance all round by the Black Falcon team, who won the race and handled immense pressure from behind.
The early part of the 22nd hour saw a great battle for fourth place between the #1 Phoenix Audi and #22 Rowe Motorsport Mercedes. The #1 would yield its position and fall back into the hands of the #20 Schubert BMW, which briefly stole fifth at the Karussell.
It was a tough race for Schubert all round, but they will be satisfied with their recovery run, which would leave them with a well earned sixth place for the black #20 car.
The story of the race from that point onwards, though, would be Maxime Martin; and, specifically, how quickly he could pedal. After getting in the car for the final leg of the race he put in some simply stunning laps with an 8:32.508 being his best – 17 seconds quicker than the leader. This drive for the ages from Martin would see him eventually nab second place for Marc VDS Racing.
After coming in for the final stop with under an hour to go, Martin took 21 seconds off the #22 and #23 Rowe Mercedes which were in a scrap for second and third. Maxime initially dived to the outside of the #23 Mercedes at the Schumacher S, but couldn’t quite make it stick as he ran wide on the marbles. He then waited for the third-placed Rowe Merc to make an error before pouncing- which it did at the start of the Nordschleife section. From that point on it was easy for Maxime to get past the #22 Mercedes, dragging past it through traffic.
The battle between the two Mercedes of Rowe Racing continued until the #23 was forced to pit with just 20 minutes to go.
The lead Black Falcon Mercedes at this point was in self-preservation mode, evidenced by Martin taking 31 seconds off Sean Edwards in one lap. The top spot was never really in doubt, though – barring an unexpected incident – so at that point it became a nervous cruise to the line for the German team.
The Black Falcon team then crossed the line in formation with the sister #10 car. The winning car had been driven, remarkably, by just Sean Edwards and Bernd Schneider for the team to get the most speed out of the car for the last nine hours of the race. The reason for Jeroen Bleekemolen’s absence in the second half was to attend the birth of his twins.
Overall it was a great race, Black Falcon scoring the first win for Mercedes at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and Sean Edwards becoming the first ever English winner of the race.
Stephen Kilbey
