Sixth place overall and kilometers in the lead with the new Ferrari 296 GT3
16.04.2023
At the third round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series, Frikadelli Racing took another big step forward with the #30 Ferrari 296 GT3. After many duels worth seeing, David Pittard and Felipe Laser finally secured sixth place overall. In the meantime, the driver duo even led the race and thus collected the first kilometers in the lead with the new vehicle on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. In addition, “Jules” and Klaus Abbelen won the AM category of the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring for the second time in a row with the #111 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup. They were assisted at the wheel by Leon Koehler.
“I am very satisfied with our performance. Without the problems with a broken brake disc, even more would have been possible with the Ferrari 296 GT3 in terms of placement. That still needs to be analyzed along with a few other teething problems, but fortunately these are becoming fewer and fewer. We were also doing well with our Porsche 992 GT3 Cup and won the class again. Leon in particular was strong and set fantastic times in qualifying and the race. As far as the chassis setup is concerned, we still have room for improvement with the vehicle. We will work intensively on this again during the test days”, sums up team boss Klaus Abbelen.
In qualifying, David Pittard and Felipe Laser initially placed the #30 Ferrari 296 GT3 in 18th place on the grid. But in the race, the two drivers quickly made progress. Pittard made up a few positions on the opening lap and returned from the Nordschleife in eighth place overall. With a few overtaking maneuvers worth seeing, the Briton even brought the “fastest meatball in the world” up to the overall lead for a while. Afterwards, Felipe Laser ungrudgingly continued the strong performance of his driver colleague and was also able to deliver strong lap times until the replacement of the brake disc in the pits meant that Frikadelli Racing had to say goodbye to the fight for a podium place. Nevertheless, the sixth place overall was a presentable result.
Things went smoothly for the #111 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup right from the start. On his first Nordschleife outing this season, Leon Koehler set a lap time of 8:09.168 minutes in qualifying and thus secured the overall pole position in the Cup 2 class for the Frikadelli Racing Team for the second time this year. He put an impressive 3.4 seconds between himself and the competition. And in the race, too, “Jules”, Abbelen and Köhler achieved their goal by winning the AM category of the Porsche Endurance Trophy.
Driver Voices:
Felipe Laser (#30 Ferrari 296 GT3): “Overall, we can be very satisfied with the weekend. In terms of set-up, we took another big step forward and didn't let the tests, which were canceled at the beginning of the season due to the weather, get us down. We're getting closer and closer to a good basis and overall sixth place is quite respectable in this field. With a bit more luck, a place on the podium would have been possible. Nevertheless, we have the certainty that we are making the right adjustments and we are all looking forward to the qualifying race together.”
David Pittard (#30 Ferrari 296 GT3): “It was another tough weekend for our entire team. We've worked very hard on the learnings of NLS 2 and have improved again, which I'm very happy about. Today's race was particularly important for testing strategy, pit stops, etc. under racing conditions, which all in all worked well. I think without the intermittent problems we would have fought for victory. But these are details that we still have to work on with the new car.”
Leon Köhler (#111 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup): “Things couldn’t have gone better for us with pole position in qualifying, the fastest race lap and victory in the AM classification. It really was an all-round successful weekend, on which we harmonized perfectly as a team. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the entire Frikadelli Racing Team for the renewed trust. Working together was a lot of fun again, everyone was extremely focused and goal-oriented - so it's all the better that this success came out at the end. For me it was my first race this season on the Nordschleife and it was an indescribable feeling to be back.”
“Jules” (#111 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup): “I am very happy that we clinched our second win of the season. The race was extremely fun, and it was a pleasure to work with Leon again, who I personally think is a rising star in the motorsport sky. I'm happy already looking forward to NLS round 4.”
