Team Black Falcon gears up for first 2014 VLN Endurance Championship race

Black Falcon is gearing up for the first round of the 2014 VLN Endurance Championship, which is scheduled on the 29^th of this month.

The VLN Endurance Championship is Germany’s premier endurance series, hosted on the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife every year with a total of ten races.

Many races of the VLN Endurance Championship are used as test bed for the prestigious 24 Hours of Nürburgring, in which Team Black Falcon triumphed last year with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

Following a great start to the season with three podium finishes at the 24 Hours of Dubai, Black Falcon returns to the German circuit this week and has set its sights on continued success in the season opener.

Drivers Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED), Andreas Simonsen (SWE) and Lance David Arnold (GER) will share driving duties behind the wheel of the Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, and will benefit from the 6-hour race to prepare for the tough 24 Hours of Nürburgring that is scheduled from 19^th till 22^nd of June.

Jeroen Bleekemolen has a rich career in motorsport with two Porsche Supercup titles, a 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class triumph and two A1 Grand Prix victories to his name; he also won the Nürburgring 24 Hour race with the team last year. Bleekemolen is more than ready to take on the challenge this week.

Andreas Simonsen is the 2013 FIA GT Series Pro-Am drivers’ champion; he drove a brilliant race in the #1 Black Falcon Mercedes during the 24 Hours of Dubai before the car’s unfortunate retirement. He is yet to score a podium with the team, having coming so close at the VLN 9 last year and will give it his best at the first VLN race of the season.

Newcomer Lance David Arnold has competed in such series as the Rolex Sports Car Series and Porsche Supercup as part of the UPS Porsche Junior team, as well multiple top 5 finishes 24 Hours of Nürburgring and numerous overall VLN wins. Arnold also partnered with Formula 1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen to drive a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG at one round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Lance seeks further career success with Team Black Falcon.   Lance joins the team as an AMG driver, bringing a wealth of SLS and Nordschleife experience.

The start of the 60th ADAC Westfalenfahrt – first round of the 2014 VLN Championship – will begin on Saturday, 29th March, at 12:00hrs exactly. The positions on the starting grid will be determined previously in the timed practice from 08:30 to 10:00hrs.