9th round will go down in history in several respects

It appears to be a frequently used, but very often also a true saying in the VLN endurance racing championship that everyone who has a big name will be at the start, as is the case now at the ROWE DMV 250 Miles Race organised by the AC Monheim. The total of about 190 cars will be on the grid at the penultimate four hour race of the 2014 season. The top-powered GT3 race car from the traditional make of Bentley will hereby make a world debut and compete in a race at the legendary Nordschleife for the first time. The impressive name of the British super sports car is Continental GT3 and it will be driven by the three British works drivers Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Andy Meyrick. There is furthermore a number of small anecdotes which will make the race go down in history in several respects. The experience endurance racing championship is free of charge all around the Nordschleife. Access to the open grandstands at the Grand Prix Circuit including a visit to the paddocks and to the starting grid will be granted for the family-friendly price of 15 euro per person. Young people under the age of 18 have free entry. Tickets will be available at the box-offices on-site. More information around the most popular grassroots series in Europe is available in the internet under www.nuerburgring-langstrecken-serie.de.

The Bentley Continental GT3 comes up with figures which make the hearts of all motorsport fans beat faster. The power is supplied by a four litres V8 engine. In comparison to the series model with a configuration that is more adapted to the comfort segment in the top class of automobiles, the British manufacturer has applied modifications to the racing version amongst others to reduce the vehicle weight considerably, thus resulting in a reduction of one ton. And the GT3 race car was extremely successful right away in its first season. In the European GT3 Championship ‘Blancpain Endurance Series’, Bentley Motorsport achieved straightaway a second place in the drivers and the team classification.

The competitors will, however, not make it an easy task for the newcomer at the ‘Green Hell’ as all the top drivers will be at the start to gain the awards themselves. The GT3 race cars range from Aston Martin Vantage GT3 over Audi R8 LMS ultra, BMW Z4 GT3, Ford GT3, McLaren MP4 12C GT3, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 up to the Porsche 911 GT3 R. The German spearhead of the manufacturer from Zuffenhausen is still facing a record as the legendary 911 has so far achieved 199 victories in the history of the endurance racing championship.

Le Mans winner Marco Werner (Switzerland) will start the race in all modesty. The long-time Audi works driver will celebrate his 30th year in motorsport at the ninth VLN race. The race driver who was born in Dortmund in North Rhine-Westphalia has his roots in this most popular grassroots series in Europe and he has now come back to his favourite discipline. A small drop of bitterness definitely is that Werner has not made it on the podium yet in the VLN. As successful as his career may have been with – amongst others – three wins at Le Mans as well as in Daytona and in Sebring, he has never achieved a first position at the Nordschleife. At the ROWE DMV 250 Miles Race, Werner will compete in a team together with Christopher Haase (Kulmbach/ Germany) and Markus Winkelhock (Berglen-Steinbach/ Germany) in the Audi R8 LMS ultra of the team Audi race experience. A result on the podium in this constellation is within reach and there will hardly be any VLN fan at the Nordschleife who would not wish him this success.

VLN driver Tim Scheerbarth (Dormagen/ Germany) is already happy when he studies the list of entries. The VLN champion from the year 2011 has achieved an incredibly increasing success during the past seven years in the endurance racing championship and will now, at the ninth race, for his first time compete in a race car that is powerful enough to win. Scheerbarth will share the cockpit of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 with Andreas Simonsen from Sweden, Hubert Haupt (Munich) and David Jahn (Speyer/ Germany). With his class wins in the Porsche in the class of VLN Specials up to 4,000 cc cylinder capacity, Scheerbarth has already demonstrated the fact that he is quick at the Nordschleife also in powerful cars. With the gullwing race car from the Affalterbach factory, his target is a position amongst the top five.

Lena Strycek (Dehrn/ Germany) will make her racing debut at the ‚Green Hell‘ on occasion of the 250 Miles Race. After a sound education in the RCN performance test series – a combination of regularity tests and sprint sections at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the daughter of Volker Strycek (Dehrn/ Germany), first DTM champion in 1984, long-year Opel Sports Principal and regular participant in the VLN, is now taking the next step to compete in automobile racing. The 24 years old Lena will share the cockpit in an Opel Astra GTC/OPC with Uwe Stein (Meerbusch/ Germany) and Peter Venn (Great Britain). Both of the Strycek children have thus made their way into the endurance racing championship. In 2012 already, her brother Robin made his debut and gained first experience in cars such as Honda, BMW and finally Opel. At the event organised by the AC Monheim father Volker, too, will of course be there. He is entered in even two cars, the trendy Opel Manta around Olaf Beckmann and the Opel Astra OPC Cup together with Stefan Kissling (Bad Münstereifel/ Germany).

The ROWE DMV 250 Miles Race will cover the usual four hour distance on the 24.358 kilometres long combination of the Nürburgring sprint circuit and the Nordschleife. The start will be given at 12 o’clock exactly and the positions on the grid will be decided in the previous timed practice between 08:30 and 10:00hrs.