The story of the Rowe 6 Stunden ADAC Ruhr-Pokal was Black Falcon’s inter-team battle to decide who would come out on top in its 1-2 victory. The dual between the Mercedes-AMG GT3s reached its climax already in the first hour when Maro Engel and Adam Christodoulou went at it for the lead with both drivers taking no prisoners during the scrimmage – but not crossing any boundaries into unacceptable either.

Of the two teammates Engel went on to win the race in the #6 Black Falcon Team AutoArena Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3.

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“It was a tough race,” Maro Engel said of the VLN 6-hour race, “I had to push really hard! We had lots of really strong battles with hard but fair racing. It was a lot of fun with Adam and Frank Stippler and we’re very happy to be coming out on top and win this race.”

In taking on the man with whom they shared so many ups and downs in the Nürburgring 24 Hours in the past years, Engel and Christodoulou put on some of the most exciting racing of the season.

“It was really exciting,” the 2016 Nürburgring 24 Hours winner continued. “Both Adam and myself, we laughed after the stint because it was quite a tough fight where we both gave it everything. It was hard but very fair – our team boss Sean Paul’s heart rate is probably a bit higher!

“It’s a great result for the team to get a Black Falcon 1-2 and it was a perfect job by them with two great cars as we saw on track with great strategy and pitstops.”

According to Engel, team boss Sean Paul Breslin remained quiet over the radio during the scuffle.

“He didn’t say much, I think he trusted us. It was important to keep the cars on track and he trusted us to do that. It was all fair so I don’t think there was any reason for him to intervene – he was quite quiet.”

With a busy schedule that includes a bid to defend his Blancpain GT championship title and a guest appearance in this weekend’s ADAC GT Masters, Maro Engel could return to the Nordschleife as late as October.

“I really hope I can come back later this year, I love racing here, I love VLN as much as the 24 Hours. I hope to come back for VLN8 or VLN9.”

Alex Striege contributed to this article.