Falken Motorsports fails to find racing luck in the third round of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Endurance Series

After Falken Motorsports impressed with a strong second-place finish overall at the season opener of the ADAC RAVENOL Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), the No. 44 Porsche 911 GT3 R was denied the necessary racing luck in the third round of the season, the 57th Adenauer ADAC Circuit Trophy: Klaus Bachler and Benjamin Leuchter were forced to retire the teal-and-blue crowd favorite early due to a issue after a promising start and thus did not see the checkered flag.

In the morning qualifying session, Klaus Bachler had secured seventh on the grid for the Falken Porsche with a commanding lap and was involved in thrilling battles with the leading group in the early stages of the race. At the first pit stop, teammate Benjamin Leuchter took the wheel and, with a solid and error-free drive, managed to stay within striking distance of the podium positions. Shortly after the halfway point of the race, however, the Falken crew’s hopes of securing their second podium finish of the year suffered a major setback.

Damage to the right rear wheel - of all places, during the first half of the legendary Nordschleife - forced Leuchter to pull the popular Falken Porsche out of the race early to prevent further damage. The sudden loss of pressure, which came without warning, suggests that the damage was caused by a foreign object. Numerous accidents had occurred in the early stages of the race, leading to several yellow flag periods and a track that was heavily contaminated in places.

In contrast, there was great joy among the Falken customer team Max Kruse Racing: The alternative-fuel-powered Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II driven by Dominik Fugel, Marcel Fugel, and double starter Benjamin Leuchter finished a strong fifth overall and took the win in the “AT1” class. Less fortunate was the sister car driven by Jan Jaap van Roon, Tom Coronel, and Christian Kohlhaas, which retired early following an accident. The team’s two TCR cars rounded out the results, finishing in 37th and 82nd place in the overall standings.

Falken Motorsports will return to the Green Hell as early as this coming weekend for the ADAC 24h Qualifiers. In preparation for the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (May 14–17), two four-hour races will take place on the Nordschleife on both Saturday (April 18) and Sunday (April 19), with the first race on Saturday running into the early evening hours and thus until nightfall.