Bad luck at the 24h race in Barcelona
01.09.2019
With great anticipation, the Frikadelli Racing Team competed in the 24h race in Barcelona to get to know the Creventic 24h Series. At the Circuit de Catalunya, the team around team boss Klaus Abbelen managed to put on a very good performance over the weekend with the Porsche 911 GT3 R, but the courageous gueststart should not be rewarded at the end.
"We really had a very good pace. Unfortunately luck has just fallen by the wayside this weekend. After two punctures and a tread that dissolved, the residue was just too big. Therefore, we have finally decided on the task. Too bad, because our vehicle and the driver line-up were very strong. Now we have to find out what exactly was the cause of our problems with the Hankook standard tires, "said team boss Klaus Abbelen, who shared the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R with Alex Müller, Lance David Arnold and Felipe Fernandez Laser.
The race started very promising from the perspective of the Frikadelli Racing Team. Starting from ninth overall position, Laser was able to move up to fourth place during his start stint. After a tire puncture Laser must come into box. Due to the associated loss of time, the team from Barweiler dropped back to 23rd overall place. By the end of the second hour of the race, Laser and Müller, who subsequently took over the Porsche cockpit, fought back into the top ten.
After the confidence had just regained due to the strong performance on the track, Müller should experience the same fate as his teammate before. Another tire damage threw back the "fastest meatball in the world". Despite this setback, they did not get head stuck and initiated another catch-up. From 36th place overall, Arnold and Abbelen were able to bring the car back to the 23rd position with strong lap times. Further problems with the tires should decided to go out of race.
Voices after the race:
Klaus Abbelen (Team Principal & Driver Porsche 911 GT3 R # 31): "Even though we did not manage to score a countable result at the end, we take a lot of positive impressions from the 24h Series. The series is quite well organized and makes really fun. Therefore, I do not rule out performances from us in the future. Many thanks to my team for the great work in preparation but also for the race weekend itself. "
Alex Müller (Driver Porsche 911 GT3 R # 31): "It's really shame. We had the pace and the driver line up to at least get on the podium. Now it is important for us to analyze exactly why it came to these tire damage. A big thank you from my side to the Frikadelli Racing Team, who did a great job over the weekend. I am sure that we will return even stronger. "
Lance David Arnold (Driver Porsche 911 GT3 R # 31): "Similar to my teammate Alex Müller, I've been in the 24h Series a few times. Nevertheless, I was really looking forward to perform here in Barcelona together with Frikadelli Racing. The team was really well placed, the atmosphere great and the driver line-up outstanding. All in all, we had a quite victorious package together, although we still lacked some experience with the tires. So I hope that we can compete in this constellation again and prove this. "
Felipe Fernandez Laser (Driver Porsche 911 GT3 R # 31): "Of course we are all extremely disappointed because our goal was to finish in the top three of the overall classification. From the pure speed that would certainly have been quite realistic, but it just did not have to be. Many thanks to the entire Frikadelli Racing team for the great work on the weekend. I would be delighted if we would attack again together next year at the 24h race in Barcelona. "
