The first of September 2018 will go down in the history books for Falken Motorsports. Already during qualifying for the sixth round of the 2018 VLN Endurance Championship, the Falken duo excelled with an outstanding performance, earning themselves second and third on the starting grid.
In doing so, the Austrian driver duo of Klaus Bachler and Martin Ragginger in the Porsche 911 GT3 R enjoyed an exceptional premiere: requiring just 7:57.850 minutes to complete the Nordschleife, the Falken Porsche did so for the first-time ever in less than eight minutes. And with a 7:58.081 lap time, the BMW team comprising Stef Dusseldorp (NL) and Alexandre Imperatori (CH) secured the starting position directly behind their team colleagues.
The four-hour contest started under ideal racing conditions with a sunny 15° C. Into Turn One, the two Falken racing cars took the lead, which they maintained until the first pit stops. During this initial phase, Klaus Bachler, at the wheel of the Porsche GT3 R, stunned with a breathtaking velocity, burning yet another 7:56.259 minute lap record into the asphalt.
As the race progressed, a neck-and-neck contest unfolded between Audi, BMW and Porsche for the lead position, in which shrewd tire management ultimately emerged as the key. Thanks to its perfectly timed tire changes, Falken kept its competitors at bay, letting it lead the race from the head of the field.
The result was the first one-two in Falken’s almost 20 years of participation in the VLN racing community.
Falken Tyre Europe GmbH is the European affiliate of the Japanese tire manufacturer Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. The Falken brand is involved in exciting and high technology platforms such as motorsports with a Porsche 911 GT3 R and BWM M6 GT3, Red Bull Air Race, at the AUDI Sportpark stadium, which is the stadium of Bundesliga club FC Ingolstadt 04, and as the global tire partner of Liverpool FC.
For more information, visit www.falkentyre.co.uk.
