After a successful end to its 2014 Blancpain Endurance Series campaign, with two podium finishes at the 1000km Nürburgring, Team Black Falcon returns to racing in mid-December as it plans to tackle both the 2014 Gulf 12 Hours and 2015 Dubai 24 Hours endurance races.
Team Black Falcon aims to defend its Gulf 12 Hours title with two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3s.
Last year’s winning driver combination of Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Bernd Schneider will race under the “Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon” name once again. Meanwhile, behind the wheel of the second “Black Falcon” Mercedes will sit Abdulaziz Turki AlFaisal, Hubert Haupt and Richard Muscat, who have already raced with the team in 2014.
The fourth edition of the Gulf 12 Hours is scheduled for 13 December 2014, at the 5.554-kilometer Yas Marina Circuit. The event is quite unique as it consists of two six-hour races, split by a 2-hour break during which the teams are allowed to work on their cars. The endurance race is open to GT cars from GT2 to GT4, as well as one-make series such as Porsche Cup and Ferrari Challenge, sports cars such as CN2, and a limited number of touring cars.
After the Gulf 12 Hours, the same two-car team will travel to Dubai to take part in the 2015 edition of the Dubai 24 Hours. However, the Dubai race’s longer distance means that four drivers will share each Black Falcon Mercedes.
Khaled Al Qubaisi, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Bernd Schneider will be joined by Andreas Simonsen in the “Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon” Mercedes. Moreover, Adam Christodoulou and Oliver Webb are expected to make an appearance in the second Black Falcon Mercedes alongside Abdulaziz Turki AlFaisal and Hubert Haupt.
Webb, who’s new to the team, is the 2014 European Le Mans Series champion and plans to put his driving skills and expertise into good use, together with his team mates who finished 3rd overall in the 2014 edition of the race.
Unlike the Gulf 12 Hours race, the Dubai 24 Hours is run for 24 hours straight, which makes it an extremely tough challenge for all the teams and drivers, especially with the wide variety of categories, ranging from small 1600cc cars to leading GT3 cars. The 5.39-kilometer Dubai Autodrome will host the event on 8-10 January 2015.
Team Black Falcon will once again show its support to the Sean Edward Foundations by featuring the foundation’s logo on its Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon Mercedes in both events.