Strong debut with the new Ligier JS P3
23.09.2019
As part of the American Fan Festival at the Hockenheimring Frikadelli Racing celebrated a brilliant debut with the new Ligier JS P3. After team boss Klaus Abbelen finished third in the first race of the Special Touring Car Trophy (STT), he secured the overall victory with the LMP3 prototype in Sunday's race. Together with Alex Müller, "Frikadelli" drove a strong second place in the Endurance Race.
"We had a really great weekend here in Hockenheim. Although we were unfortunately unable to complete a rollout with our new Ligier before, the vehicle has passed its baptism of fire with flying colors. A total victory and two more podium places are a great result, "said Abbelen after the first appearance with the 500 hp LMP3 car.
The weekend started from the point of view of Frikadelli Racing initially rather reserved. Thus, after the first qualifying, the fifth starting position within the STT respectively the 13th place in the overall field for the team from Barweiler was recorded. In the race, however, Klaus Abbelen fought his way forward and made the jump to the STT podium with third place. "Unfortunately I had lose time in the traffic at the beginning. As a result, the gap between the two leading vehicles at the front and me was just too big. Too bad, because the overall victory would otherwise have been tangible. But the third place is a very good start with the new car. "
Only a few hours later, Frikadelli Racing enjoyed the second podium appearance. In the Endurance Race, Klaus Abbelen and Alex Müller achieved second place overall. "Alex has done a very strong first stint. He managed to get us in the lead from third place on the grid and put us 20 seconds ahead of our competitors, "said Abbelen, who gave everything after the change of driver to successfully defend the lead. Two laps to go, however, he had lose the lead to a Ginetta G57 with a professional pilot at the wheel. "Even though it was not quite enough to win, it was still a great and clean race from us. We're going to make some changes to the setup for Sunday to really get the most out of it. "
This work should already pay off during the morning qualifying. So Abbelen could drive a lap time of 1: 24.759 min. and thus confidently secured the pole position for the second STT race. In the race, he managed to build on this strong performance and take after the 30-minute distance, the overall victory.
"I have to say that the Ligier JS P3 really impressed me a lot and upgrades our vehicle fleet even more. So I'm really looking forward to the next sorties.
