Solid guest start by Frikadelli Racing in the Prototype Cup Germany
18.07.2022
The Frikadelli Racing team took part in the new Prototype Cup Germany for the first time. At the Nürburgring, team boss Klaus Abbelen made a guest appearance together with Felipe Fernandez Laser with the #30 Ligier JS P320. In the first race, the driver duo crossed the finish line in third place overall, in the second race they finished seventh. Since the decision was made within the team to start with a "gold pilot", you were officially only rated in the invitation class. You could decide for yourself on both days.
“I'm very happy with our performance on Saturday, especially because we were directly competitive with our LMP3 vehicle in our debut race in the Prototype Cup Germany. In order to advance the development of our vehicle, we made slight changes to our set-up on Sunday. As long as the tires were fresh it didn't matter that much, but when they let up a bit we couldn't keep up with the speed. At the end of the race it was so catastrophic that we only fought with blunt weapons. It's a shame, because a second place would have been possible here," explains Abbelen.
Frikadelli Racing started the first race from ninth position. During the opening stint, Klaus Abbelen was able to improve by one place and hand over the #30 Ligier JS P320 to Felipe Laser within reach of the top five. In the second part of the race, the man from Leipzig showed strong lap times and was able to close the gap to the front. By the time the black and white checkered flag fell, Laser had worked his way up to third position in the overall rankings, which was also supposed to mean class victory.
On the Sunday of the race, the journey started from fifth place on the grid. In the Mercedes Arena, Laser was able to make up two positions on the outside line and subsequently put pressure on the second-placed LMP3 car. In the third lap of the race, Laser finally pushed past him and took second place in the tableau. But the longer the race lasted, the more the Frikadelli team had to lose feathers due to the setup. Klaus Abbelen finally brought the #30 Ligier JS P320 across the finish line in seventh place.
"All in all, I have to say that the Prototype Cup Germany is a well-organized series that I like. It's a shame that there were only eleven cars in total, but I'm sure that the series will continue to develop. In any case, the pace of the existing driver pairings was already extremely strong. I can already imagine contesting one or two more races here in the future. Depending on how the development of the series goes on in the next few years, maybe a permanent commitment later on," Abbelen continues.
A test day in Spa-Francorchamps is now on the program for Frikadelli Racing at the beginning of August in order to get the finishing touches for the Michelin Le Mans Cup race at the end of September. “After that we will have a short summer break before we start the NLS season finale. But we are also looking forward to the two remaining outings in the Michelin Le Mans Cup in Spa and Portimao.”
