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Black Falcon's Barcelona disqualification overturned
Black Falcon Mercedes drivers Maro Engel, Yelmer Buurman and Luca Stolz have been crowned Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup champions after a court ruling.
Gary Watkins
Edited: Jun 9, 2021, 8:55 AM
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They have been awarded the crown after the penalty for a technical infringement in September's Barcelona series finale was downgraded by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium's national court of appeal.
Engel, Buurman and Stolz won the race to clinch the Endurance Cup title, but were subsequently excluded for a homologation infringement involving the use of self-adhesive tape to seal part of air-intake system.
The court upheld the findings of the series technical delegate and the stewards, but ruled that the disqualification should be withdrawn and the team instead be fined €5000.
It stated it accepted the team's defence that the addition of the tape "does not provide any advantage of performance" and that the punishment was disproportionate with the infringement.
The revised penalty means that Auto Sport Promotion Mercedes driver Raffaele Marciello is deprived of a hat-trick of Blancpain GT titles, while also giving Black Falcon the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup teams' title.
Marciello wrapped up the overall title at Barcelona to go with the Sprint Cup crown he won with Michael Meadows, and would have taken the Endurance Cup had Black Falcon's exclusion been upheld.
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