Rescued from disaster by a rival, Team Abu Dhabi Black Falcon didn’t waste its second chance, qualifying on the pole for the 2013 Dunlop Abu Dhabi 24 Hours.
The team’s A6-class #1 Mercedes SLS AMG GT3, piloted by Jeroen Bleekemolen, qualified with a lap of 1:59.104, one of only four cars to break two minutes around the 5.39 km, 16-turn Dubai Autodrome course.
Not a bad result for a team which thought it might not make the race.
Khaled Qubaisi crashed heavily in practice, destroying the back half of the teams Mercedes. With no way to repair the damage, the team considered trying to airlift a new chassis from Germany; failing that, the team might have to withdraw.
Since these were the defending 2012 winners, with three of the four winning drivers (Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards and Khaled al Qubaisi) losing the #1 Black Falcon Mercedes would be a blow for the team of course, but also for the fans, organizers, and the competition (well, some of the competition might not have minded.)
One competitor isn’t afraid to face the Black Falcon Mercedes on track and proved it: Preci-Spark, a British team with five family members driving, sold its back-up chassis to Abu Dhabi Black Falcon. The Black Falcon crew set it up to suit its drivers, and qualified first.
“They put the engine, the gearbox, the fuel tank, the suspension and many other parts from the original car in and really did an amazing job, because the car felt great,” Bleekemolen told Speedtv.com. “The fact that I was able to claim pole on what was only my third lap of the weekend at the Dubai Autodrome is almost unbelievable.”
That Bleekemolen could capture pole in a hastily assembled car (the team didn’t even have time to paint it—the car ran in Preci-spark colors) gives notice to all the other contenders that
Preci-Spark, in its similar Mercedes SLS, qualified 17th.
