The Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 the Englishman shared with Hubert Haupt and Andreas Simonsen was due to start from 17th when it did not start on the dummy grid. So Haupt had to take the start from the pitlane on cold rubber that hadn’t been warmed up properly. Despite this, the German made excellent progress in the opening stint, charging from 52nd on the grid to 24th by the time he handed over to Simonsen, who had climbed into the top 15 when Christodoulou took over for the final stint.
The Englishman drove the final stint of the four-hour enduro aboard the AMG – Team Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 after team-mates Maro Engel, Bernd Schneider and Manuel Metzger had completed their stints and was delighted with a second successive VLN podium that leaves the team in high spirits ahead of their biggest race of the season.
With 57 GT3 cars on a very busy grid, the weekend would largely be determined by qualifying, in particular the third session when the track is at its best. However, after positive sessions for team-mates Hubert Haupt and Andreas Simonsen, Christodoulou was left frustrated when he got in for Q3, as continual traffic left the no. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 mired in 19th place.
Adam Christodoulou marked his first race as an official AMG Driver with a podium in the first VLN meeting of the year.
The event drew a healthy field of 174 competitors with 30 SP9 GT3 entries, and was the first held since speed restrictions on the Döttinger Höhe were lifted and the crest at Flugplatz re-profiled. However, unseasonal snow in the Eiffel Mountains and several lengthy red flag periods meant the 26-year-old Briton completed very little pre-event testing in his new AMG-Team Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3, putting him on the back foot ahead of qualifying.
Even with the combined experience of team-mates Bernd Schneider, Maro Engel and Manuel Metzger, deciding on the optimal setup would prove a dilemma, so a laptime of 8:10.88s – enough for eighth on the grid and seventh in class – constituted a good result under the circumstances.