A podium success for the SLS AMG GT3 in Abu Dhabi

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While we’re waiting for the debut of the new AMG GT3 race car, the “old” SLS AMG GT3 is still doing its thing. This time, it finished on the podium of the Gulf 12 Hours race in Abu Dhabi.

The same venue that hosted the last F1 race this season was where Mercedes-Benz recorded its latest success. It’s the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi/United Arab Emirates and this time, the car responsible for the champagne at the end was a SLS AMG GT3.

AMG Customer Sports Team Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon (ACSTADRBF – my god, even the anagram is humongous) managed to come in second at the end of the Gulf 12 Hours Race, after taking the first place one year before. The gap between second and first place, though, was just 3.058 seconds which really speaks volumes about how close of an affair the race was.

SLS AMG GT3 in Abu Dhabi | MercedesBlog.comComing second in overall also meant that the SLS AMG GT3 managed to win the Pro-Am category. There were two more SLS AMG GT3s involved starting from the fourth and last position, the latter as a penalty for some technical problems during qualifying. The first of the two kept its position at the end of the race finishing in fourth, while the Russian team starting at the end of the grid did a superb job and managed to climb all the way to the eighth position.

The twelve-hour race in Abu Dhabi started on Saturday, 13 December, at 9 am local time and interrupted as scheduledat 3 pm. The re-start was at 6 pm while the chequered flag was waved at midnight.

Here’s what a few of the people involved had to say after the race:
Jochen Bitzer, head of AMG Customer Sports:
“Congratulations to the Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon and Black Falcon teams. Second place overall and a class win are a great result, of which we are very proud. Further congratulation goes out to the GT Russian team that also managed to bring its SLS AMG GT3 to the finish with success. After this great final race we wish all AMG Customer Sport Teams, their drivers and families relaxing Christmas holidays. We are looking forward to the 24h of Dubai in January, where twelve SLS AMG GT3 will compete in the first race of the year. This will be a new record: Never before more gullwings have participated in a long distance race.”

Bernd Schneider, AMG Customer Sports Pool Driver: “The race was exciting and the battle for the top positions remained very tight until the end. Therefore, it was great fun. We might have just missed out on victory, but we are very happy with this success.”
Sean Paul Breslin, team manager Abu Dhabi Racing Black Falcon: “We are very happy with this result. The race in Abu Dhabi was a successful end of the season and I would like to thank our team for this. We were involved in a hard battle with the winning Ferrari and the McLaren. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough for victory in the end. Our entire team has deserved this podium finish and the victory in the Pro-Am-Class is also a great success for our second SLS AMG GT3.”