Falken Porsche Wins NLS2 After Walkenhorst Penalty

Photo: NLS

Alessio Picariello and Dorian Boccolacci took Falken Motorsports’ second consecutive NLS victory, winning the ADAC Ruhrpott Trophy after a time penalty for Walkenhorst Motorsport.

Although the No. 4 Porsche 911 GT3 R crossed the line behind the No. 34 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Mattia Drudi and Christian Krognes after four-hour of racing, the latter was given a 37-second penalty for failing to meet the minimum pit stop time.

As a result, Picariello and Boccolacci were declared the winners of the second round of the NLS season, with Drudi and Krognes classified 30.751 seconds behind in second place.

It marks the second consecutive NLS win for a Falken Porsche after Sven Mueller and Morris Schuring came out on top during the opening round in March.

Although the race started with the No. 8 JUTA Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II from pole courtesy of a qualifying time of 8:04.971 from reigning Nürburgring 24 winner Frank Stippler, the fight at the front soon focused around the Walkenhorst Aston Martin and the pair of Falken Porsches.

That became effectively a one-on-one fight pitting Picariello and Boccolacci against Drudi and Krognes when the second Falken Porsche, driven by Tim Heinemann and Dennis Marschall, lost time during a pitstop in the third hour.

The race was then effectively decided in Falken’s favor when the No. 34 Aston Martin received its penalty deep within the final hour.

Although Krognes overtook Boccolacci in traffic on the final lap to cross the line first, the Norwegian was dropped to second in the final results.

The No. 98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO completed the overall podium piloted by Raffaele Marciello, Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn and Kelvin van der Linde.

Scherer Sport PHX finished fourth with its debuting Porsche in the hands of Patric Niederhauser and Patrick Pilet, while Heinemann and Marschall completed the top five.

Of note, Robert Wickens finished fourth in the TCR class aboard the No. 831 Hyundai Elantra N TCR alongside Michael Lewis and Youngchan Kim as the Canadian ramps up preparations for his N24 debut later this year.

The NLS season continues with the four-hour Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy on May 10.

RESULTS: ADAC Ruhrpott Trophy