With a second place in class SP7 and eighth overall position at the fifth round of the Nürburgring VLN endurance racing championship, Manuel Metzger continued to be just as successful as previously in the current season. The race driver who lives in Switzerland thus also celebrated a successful comeback after his injury break.
The fifth race of the VLN endurance racing championship was of special significance for Black-Falcon driver Manuel Metzger. On the one hand, the 29-year-old made his comeback to racing in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup almost six weeks after a training accident with the racing bicycle in which he suffered several fractures in his right hand. On the other hand, a new construction extension kit in his car was for the first time used at this race.
“After I had to take a break at the last VLN race due to my injury, I am first of all really looking forward to be back to racing. Unfortunately, our car was really badly damaged in the Friday practice before the last VLN race so that the Black Falcon Team TMD Friction had to put very big efforts in rebuilding the car. You cannot praise enough this fantastic achievement and I am absolutely curious to see how the new extension kit will work”, said Metzger before the race.
First experience and evidence should be gained in the qualifying. And Manuel Metzger who shared the cockpit this weekend with „Gerwin“ (Netherlands) and Adam Christodoulou (Great Britain) achieved pole position in class SP7 despite a tough competition and they also finished in a very strong tenth overall grid position. “The level of quality in our class at this race is really high. So Rinaldi Racing with the strong driver crew of Norbert Siedler and Marco Seefried for example joined us this time. Mantey Racing has furthermore contracted Nick Tandy, one of the current winners of the Le Mans 24h Race, for this event. I was really delighted that we were able to dominate these strong rivals in the qualifying and I am now looking forward to the race”, said Metzger who was also the start driver in his team. He lost the lead in class SP7 to the Manthey Porsche after the start but he was able to defend second place in his class and a position in the top ten overall. As his two team mates „Gerwin“ and Adam Christodoulou were equally able to convince with fast lap times, the driver trio finally took the chequered flag in eight position overall and in second place in class SP7.
“We can take a very positive summary of this race and we are very happy with the new extension kit. In view of our fast qualifying lap, we showed a really good performance in the race, too. We will now have to continue developing the whole unit to further increase our performance in the race and to close the gap to Manthey Racing”, said Metzger.
