Tyre manufacturer FALKEN achieved eighth place overall at the 45th ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24h race with its new BMW M6 GT3. FALKEN’s car, competing at the enduro for the first time in the company’s iconic colours, was the third-best BMW home in an arduous event that witnessed plenty of drama. That included a collision on Saturday evening that led to the retirement of FALKEN’s Porsche 911 GT3 completing just 26 laps.
The internal battle between the two FALKEN cars was intense during qualifying. The Porsche with drivers Martin Ragginger, Jörg Bergmeister, Dirk Werner and Laurens Vanthoor started in 25th position, with the BMW of Peter Dumbreck, Alexandre Imperatori, Stef Dusseldorp and Marco Seefried dropping from a close 27th to 37th after a pre-race penalty.
Both crews made dream starts in the unseasonable high temperatures in the region. While other teams struggled to achieve maximum performance from their tyres in the heat, both FALKEN shod cars were able to complete the first stint with minimal issues and made excellent headway though the field.
In the early stages, the 911 GT3 R was the fastest Porsche on track, swiftly breaking into the top 10 after only a few laps. However, this success was unfortunately short-lived as it was hit by another vehicle four hours into the race, suffering irreparable damage.
Performing consistently, the M6 GT3 showed excellent performance on its FALKEN rubber through the heat witnessed on Saturday and in the cooler hours of the night as well as during the sudden rain fall as the race reached its conclusion.
“We are delighted that under these extreme conditions, we were able to show the wide-ranging performance capability of our tyres,” commented Markus Bögner, COO at Falken Tyre Europe GmbH. “We would like to thank the motorsports team and our BMW and Porsche partners, as well as the drivers who mastered our first double entry in the 24h race.”
More than 600 customers and journalists from all around Europe visited FALKEN at the Nürburgring, experiencing an exciting weekend at the legendary track.
FALKEN was once again one of the main sponsors of the 24-hour race. In addition to the race, FALKEN provided fans with spades of entertainment away from it including the FALKEN Drift Show that acted as the perfect warm up for the main race.
“We have also strongly activated our commitment to the media. With three film crews, a helicopter, several photographers and our social media teams, we have generated unique content that we have spread across our diverse channels worldwide,” said Stephan Cimbal, head of marketing at Falken Tyre Europe GmbH. “FALKEN stands for excitement and high technology – and we have demonstrated this over the past four days.”
