Frikadelli Racing celebrates its premiere at the 24h race at Spa-Francorchamps
19.10.2020
For the first time in the team's 15-year history, the Frikadelli Racing Team will compete in the 24h race at Spa-Francorchamps. The team of Sabine Schmitz and Klaus Abbelen will use a Porsche 911 GT3 R in the long-distance race in the Belgian Ardennes, which will be shared by Timo Bernhard, Frédéric Makowiecki and Dennis Olsen.
"For me, the 24h race at Spa-Francorchamps is one of the toughest endurance races in the world. After successfully completing the test day a few weeks ago, we are now looking forward to our debut every day. With the participation we are breaking new ground, but we have some experts in our ranks who have experienced the event in recent years. Accordingly, we are in a good position and hope to achieve the best possible final result," explains team leader Klaus Abbelen.
With the overall victory at the 9h race in Kyalami (South Africa), the Frikadelli Racing Team was able to prove at the end of last season that they are also able to achieve great successes away from the Nürburgring Nordschleife. At the 24h race in Spa-Francorchamps, Dennis Olsen, one of the successful pilots from Kyalami, returns to the cockpit of the "fastest meatballs in the world". Together with Frikadelli Racing, the Norwegian was crowned champion in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the unofficial world championship for GT3 vehicles, in 2019. Porsche brand ambassador Timo Bernhard and Porsche factory driver Frédéric Makowiecki, on the other hand, will be on the steering wheel for the first time for the cult team from Barweiler.
Next Thursday, the time training sessions and qualifying sessions will be on the agenda, before the decision on the final starting grid will be made the following Friday as part of the "Super-Pole". The start will take place on Saturday, 24.10.20 at 15:30. Motorsport fans can follow the race livestreamed at: www.total24hours.com/live. A total of 56 GT3 vehicles are registered for the event.
Driver's voices:
Timo Bernhard: "From my side, there was originally no plan to start at the 24h race at Spa-Francorchamps until I received the request from Porsche. I was very happy, as it is always a very special endurance race with an extremely high power density. I have never ridden for Frikadelli Racing, but I have known Klaus Abbelen for decades. That's why I'm really looking forward to the weekend together with the team and our strong driver line-up."
Frédéric Makowiecki: "The 24h race at Spa-Francorchamps is one of the biggest races ever in a motorsport season. I am therefore very happy to be able to compete here together with Frikadelli Racing. The team has been showing a strong performance at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for many years and has also been able to impress on the full line at the Intercontinental GT Challenge appearance in Kyalami. The anticipation is great and we will try to get the best out of it."
Dennis Olsen: "I am very much looking forward to competing with Frikadelli Racing at the 24h race in Spa-Francorchamps. The last time I was with the team, we had this great success in Kyalami. So of course it would be great if we could perform similarly strongly in Spa-Francorchamps. A very big challenge awaits us on the ground."
