It’s rare that a 24-hour race comes down to a pass on the last lap for the lead to decide the overall result. For AMG Team Black Falcon, the 2016 Nürburgring 24 Hours was an incredible, with Maro Engel snatching the win from HTP.
DSC caught up with the four drivers after the race to get an impression of what it was like to have achieved such a feat:
For Bernd Schneider it was his second N24 win, and his second with Black Falcon. He was understandably jubilant after being involved in another intense finish to the race, following the dash to the flag in the 2013 edition.
“The win is absolutely outstanding,” he exclaimed. “Everything has to come together at the Nürburgring 24 for you to even have a chance, so to win is even more special. Mercedes put so much effort in achieving this victory, so to have such a strong set of driver lineups, such a strong set of teams and such a good new cars in the AMG GT3, it’s amazing.
“I enjoyed every lap out there, and seeing my co-pilots driving out there with no problems and with fast lap times make me cross my fingers early to get back on the podium. Being on top is something you can’t describe.”
Manuel Metzger too had an enormous smile on his face. It was apparent throughout the race that his performance kept the team in contention. It was a coming out party for the young German.
“It was just about having confidence in the car,” he admitted. “In the first VLN race I knew I loved the car, I felt at one with the car, that was the main thing for me. Also, I had some stints in mixed conditions, but I had so much confidence I could push and create gaps to the cars behind. I think that was the main key.
“When I left the car for the last time before Bernd got in, I realised we could win this, and then we were calculating that the #29 had to pit again. We hoped for no Code 60s in the end as they could have made it without refuelling. We were praying a little, and that was when I realised that we were in for the win. We started 17th, so I didn’t really think about it at the start.
“Once we had to change our strategy we were out of sequence, so we didn’t know until the last hour that we had a chance to win.”
“It was crazy, the last hour, all the drivers were standing on the pit wall monitoring the lap times of our car and the other one. I felt more stressed watching, than when I was in the car.”
Englishman Adam Christodoulou was full of pride. Becoming somewhat of a ‘Ring specialist in recent years, a good result in the top class was very much a target.
He cited the car as the key to Mercedes’ big win.
“For AMG they’d been working at it for so long, they had a good base with the SLS, so it started strong and they improved any weaknesses of the SLS. The AMG GT3 is really good on its tyres and reliable.
“And for all that hard work, Mercedes finished 1-2-3-4.”
The sequence everyone will remember from the race though, will be Engel’s bold move to take the lead after Christian Hohenadel had to make a splash and dash.
The pressure was on for Engel, and he knew it.
“To be honest the whole last hour for me was a Top-30 Qualifying session,” he said. “I pushed and squeezed everything out of the car. When I saw the 29 come out ahead of me I tried to close the gap. I was closing it though and on the last lap I got the chance to overtake him. I knew I had to take that chance, so I had to do everything I could to get past.
“A lot of drivers knew we were coming, but on the last lap a lot of cars slowed down, and that was scary, I got to places where I was doing 250 260kph and they were doing 60!
“I didn’t think too much about getting to the line first, I just drove as fast as I could. I didn’t want to hit traffic at the wrong place and lose the lead.”
Back in the garage, the tension was high, and when the Engel took the lead the place exploded.
“We knew it had to do a splash,” revealed Schneider. “At the start of the stint we knew they couldn’t do the last two laps. I was saving fuel on my stint before Maro got in at the end, so we could ensure that he didn’t have to refuel again. It gave us the chance to get close to HTP at the end too.
“We had to pass them though, but Maro made a good manoeuvre, a perfect manoeuvre and it worked out for us, and made us really happy.
“In the garage we were biting our nails. It erupted, we he braked late he were crying.”
“It was crazy, the last hour,” agreed Metzger. “All our drivers were standing on the pit wall monitoring the lap times of our car and the other one. I felt more stressed watching, than when I was in the car.”
“Yeah and I felt sick when I thought we could actually do it,” added Christodoulou. “I was so nervous with how it was going to turn out.
“With an hour to go I realised that the HTP car had to pit. We knew we had to keep on pushing to get the extra lap, so they needed fuel so we told Maro to push and put the pressure on. We knew it was going to be close, and in the last few laps we realised that it was the drive of his life. He grabbed the chance by hands.
“I screamed out loud when he made the move, I lost my voice, but suddenly we wanted the race to be longer to wanting it to be over. Then I thought after he made contact that he might have a puncture, my heart sunk. It was unreal.
For all four of them, it was a seminal moment in both their careers and lives. And that was apparent when soaking in their emotions after the flag dropped and after seeing them face to face at the press conference.
“There’s no words for this,” Metzger told DSC. “I made a step last year driving in SP7 in the 991 cup, and I got quicker and quicker and the AMG guys realised and gave me a real chance to drive the new car. It was my second time in a GT3, and trusted me to put me in this car together with the fantastic drivers. It’s the best day of my life.”
“And for me it’s a dream come true, this is very very special.” Engel said. “This for me is my most special win along with the Macau GT World Cup.”
For the Englishman in the lineup, it was special in another way. Adam Christodoulou is just the second Englishman to win the race overall, after the late Sean Edwards took the win in 2013 driving for Black Falcon.
“It’s pretty special to be the second to do it. I looked up to him racing for Black Falcon, and when I was in the lower categories it was my goal to be racing for the best team.
“This was the biggest and last race that Sean ever did, so this one is for him.”
