Podium finish in the 6-hour race – premiere in the Prototype Cup Germany
11.07.2022
At the 6-hour race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), Frikadelli Racing once again made it onto the podium in the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring. Klaus Abbelen, "Jules" and Felipe Laser finished second in the AM classification with the #111 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup and thus once again secured important points for the championship. In addition, Frikadelli Racing completed a few test kilometers with the Ligier JS P320 during Friday practice the day before, during which they also steered the LMP3 car over the legendary Nordschleife. Next weekend the team will compete with the vehicle in the Prototype Cup Germany for the first time.
“First of all, I really enjoyed the five laps with our Ligier on the Nürburgring Nordschleife on Friday. On Saturday, the goal was to build on our successful performance from the last NLS race with the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup. We did that and clinched our third podium in the fourth race, so all in all we can be satisfied with the first half of the season. With the points we have secured our place among the top 3 in the championship and are therefore still on the right track,” explains team manager Klaus Abbelen.
In the morning qualifying, the driver trio with the #111 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup took fifth place on the grid in the hard-fought Porsche Cup class (CUP2), which should also mean second place in the AM classification. Felipe Laser set the lap time of 8:14.387 minutes at the beginning of the 90-minute session. “Unfortunately, I had a bit of traffic on my two flying laps, but at that point it was enough for first place in our Am class. This was followed by a longer Code 60 phase in the dovetail area, which was only resolved shortly before the end of training. We decided not to go out on the track at random and improve the time again, but rather to save the set of tires for the race. With second place on the grid for the AM vehicles, we still had an extremely good starting position,” explains Laser.
At the start, the man from Leipzig was able to hold his own in the front runners until the early first pit stop. After that, the Frikadelli team was on the road with an anti-cyclical strategy compared to the competition, which should definitely prove itself over the six-hour distance. On the track, Klaus Abbelen and "Jules" didn't make any mistakes in the following stints and were able to set consistently fast lap times on the Nordschleife. Felipe Laser finally brought the #111 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup across the finish line in second place in the AM classification. “Overall it was really a satisfying weekend for us. I'm particularly pleased that "Jules" was able to improve again today compared to the last races. He is getting along better and better with the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup. Next time we will try to take another step forward and fight for victory,” Laser continued.
His teammate “Jules” adds: “I am very happy about second place. We didn't make any mistakes over the six-hour distance and had a good strategy. My thanks again go to the entire Frikadelli Racing Team for the great team effort. The points are extremely important for the championship. Now we will gear up for the 12-hour race in mid-September.”
Guest start in the Prototype Cup Germany
Before the summer break begins for Frikadelli Racing, the team will contest a guest start in the new Prototype Cup Germany at the Nürburgring next weekend with the Ligier JS P320. It starts on Friday, July 15th, 2022 with two free training sessions. A 15-minute qualifying session and a one-hour race will then follow on Saturday and Sunday (16.07.-17.07.22). Team boss Klaus Abbelen will drive the LMP3 vehicle as a soloist over the three days.
