Falken Colors to Remain in Nürburgring 24

The traditional Falken colors will continue to adorn a Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Nürburgring 24 and selected other rounds of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie this season, despite ongoing changes for the Falken tire company.

It was announced at the end of last year that Falken Tyre Europe GmbH would change its name to Dunlop Tyre Europe GmbH, leading to uncertainty about the future of the Falken brand in motorsport, but it will still have a presence at the Nordschleife and its iconic two-tone blue color scheme shall remain.

The Falken Motorsport Porsche will be driven by a quartet of drivers who have all represented the brand in the past, Sven Mueller being joined by fellow Porsche-contracted racer Morris Schuring, who triumphed in last year’s NLS opener alongside Mueller, Klaus Bachler and Tim Heinemann.

A second Porsche from the Schnabl Engineering stable that operates the Falken entries will, however, be adorned in a yellow-and-black Dunlop livery.

This will be piloted by Porsche factory driver Julien Andlauer, alongside Nico Menzel, Alessio Picariello and Dorian Boccolacci, who all have contracts with the German manufacturer.

“I’m very excited to be starting our sixth year together with Falken Motorsports,” said Heinemann.

“Last year’s 24-hour race unfortunately ended in disappointment despite a promising start. That makes me all the more motivated to achieve a top result this year.”

Meanwhile, fellow Porsche squad Car Collection Motorsport has announced it will return to the N24 this year after not participating in the previous two editions.

Its Porsche 911 GT3 R will be piloted by team regular Alex Fontana, former Audi works driver Nathanael Berthon, reigning NLS TCR class champion Artur Goroyan and Kyrgyzstan racer Oleg Kvitka.

The crew will tackle four races in preparation for the Nordschleife enduro, including two earlier NLS rounds.

“This will be our first start in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring since 2023, which we are very happy about, as the Nürburgring Nordschleife is our motorsport home,” said team manager Romina Schmidt.

“Our start in last year’s double-header made us very confident that we can fight for a good result in the SP9 Pro-Am class.

“We will also use our preparatory races to ensure we have the best possible package for the start in May.”