VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft (GER): Victory for Mercedes-AMG at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife

• HARIBO Racing Team-AMG #8 wins sixth round of the VLN endurance racing championship

Nürburg (GER). Almost three months after the historic quadruple victory in the 24-hour race, the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 scores its next success at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife: Uwe Alzen, Lance David Arnold and Jan Seyffarth (all GER) secured first place after 28 laps in the 39 RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen, a round of the VLN endurance racing championship. BLACK FALCON finished sixth with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #6.

In qualifying on Sunday morning, the 152 competitors strong field, including 13 cars in the SP9 class, posted fast lap times of under eight minutes at the Nordschleife. So did the HARIBO Racing Team-AMG. Uwe Alzen, Lance David Arnold and Jan Seyffarth secured third place on the grid with the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with a time of 7 min. 59.424 sec., followed by Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA), Yelmer Buurman (NED), Adam Christodoulou (GBR) and Gerwin Schuring (NED) in fourth place.

On a dry track, starting driver Jan Seyffarth was able to quickly work up his way further through the ranks in the first laps of the race. Just before the early pit stop on lap three, he already moved up into the lead for the first time. The remainder of the race went according to plan for the HARIBO Racing Team-AMG as well: the #8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 ran reliably and both Lance David Arnold and Uwe Alzen were able to build up a lead of almost one minute with consistently fast lap times. The track also remained mostly dry in spite of the brief drizzle, so that the HARIBO Racing Team-AMG was able to complete the final few laps in a controlled way. After 28 laps, finishing driver Uwe Alzen secured the team's first victory in the 2016 VLN season.

The #6 BLACK FALCON Mercedes-AMG GT3 that had started from fourth place lost some ground in the first half of the four-hour race. The quartet that included the two AMG drivers Yelmer Buurman and Adam Christodoulou was then able to close up to the group of the front-runners again and finished sixth.

Uwe Alzen, HARIBO Racing Team-AMG: 'I am really proud for the HARIBO Racing Team-AMG. The first victory, that is fantastic. A great job by the entire team. On the final lap, our margin was big enough for me to reduce the speed a little bit and to bring it home in a controlled way.'

Lance David Arnold, HARIBO Racing Team-AMG: 'We knew that we had a good chance and that our pace was good. In qualifying, we already saw how close it was and how difficult the race would be. However, it was a very good team performance. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 ran perfectly and we made it through without a single scratch.'

Jan Seyffarth, HARIBO Racing Team-AMG: 'In qualifying, I posted a lap time of under eight minutes for the first time and then in the race, I moved up from third to first. Lance and Uwe built on this and extended our margin. The race really went perfectly. Congratulations to the entire team.'

Order at the finish*:

* subject to changes at short notice