Frikadelli Racing gains valuable experience in the GT World Challenge Europe
30.07.2024
Klaus Abbelen, David Perel and Felipe Laser finished eighth in the Bronze Cup at the 3h race of the GT World Challenge at the Nürburgring with the #333 Frikadelli Ferrari 296 GT3, which was entered in co-operation with Rinaldi Racing. Much more important for the team from Barweiler, however, was the experience gained in the European championship.
‘The GT World Challenge is a highly professionally organised racing series with an incredibly strong field of drivers and participants. We are taking away a lot of positive impressions from this weekend, even though we had hoped for a bit more in terms of results. Unfortunately, however, we got stuck in traffic and were unable to make any further progress, although a few more places would certainly have been possible,’ said Team Principal Klaus Abbelen.
In qualifying, the #333 Ferrari 296 GT3 lined up in 14th position on the Bronze Cup grid before a close and hard-fought race began. Starting driver Abbelen was involved in intense, lap-long duels with the competition right from the start. Perel and Laser built on this as the race progressed and ultimately brought ‘Bella 2.0’ home in eighth place.
‘Compared to the other drivers, I still lacked experience with the Pirelli tyres. Nevertheless, I got on quite well with the car and was able to keep improving. We fought hard on the track, didn't break anything and gave everything we could. Many thanks at this point to the entire team. We will now take the impressions with us and take our time to consider whether the series is an option for us in the future,’ continued Abbelen.
His team-mate Felipe Laser added: ‘It was a great weekend that was a lot of fun. Many thanks to Klaus for taking over the #333 Ferrari 296 GT3 at such short notice and also a big compliment to him for his mega-strong performance in this high-calibre Bronze Cup. There are certainly still a few things to sort out, especially with regard to the new Pirelli tyres, but we have laid the foundations. Many thanks also to Rinaldi Racing for the great support.’
