The ninth round of the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring couldn’t have gone any better – at least not from the perspective of VLN partner ROWE, the name patron of the event organised by the AC Monheim. After 4:03:49.73 hours race time, Christian Hohenadel (Illingen/ Germany) and Maro Engel (Monaco) took the chequered flag in their Mercedes-Benz SLS MG GT3 of the team ROWE Racing as the race winners. Their advance ahead of the runner-up crew Marco Werner (Switzerland), Christopher Haase (Kulmbach/ Germany) and Markus Winkelhock (Berglen-Steinach/ Germany) in the Audi R8 LMS ultra of the team Audi race experience at the race finish was 50.317 seconds. This first podium position brings triple Le Mans winner Werner full circle with regard to his career in endurance racing championship which started with his first participation 30 years ago. Third position also went to Audi. Marc Basseng (Rosenbach/ Germany) and Frank Stippler (Bad Münstereifel/ Germany) were the drivers in the Audi R8 LMS ultra entered by Phoenix Racing and they finished the four hour race 3:52.920 minutes behind the winners. After nine races, the uncatchable leaders in the VLN Nürburgring endurance racing championship drivers’ championship are Rolf Derscheid (Much/ Germany) and Michael Flehmer (Overath/ Germany) with their BMW 325i. Under normal circumstances, it will be highly unlikely for anyone to prevent them winning the championship title which will then be awarded to them at the finale of the season on 25 October. A 30 minutes summary of the ninth round will be shown in channel Sport1 on 18 October at 16:25hrs.
“A fantastic success – in particular for the Team ROWE Racing”, said Hohenadel. “Celebrating the second victory of the season at our home game – the 2014 season cannot be concluded any better. In today’s race, we pursued a very tactical strategy and started the race with due consideration. And that was the key to our success today.” In the timed practice in the morning of the race which took place in perfect weather conditions, the ROWE SLS was one of three cars setting a time below the eight minute mark. Hohenadel and Engel were only beaten by Basseng and Stippler as well as by Jürgen Alzen (Kausen/ Germany) and Dominik Schwager (Munich). With a time of 7:57.474 minutes, Stippler set a new unofficial lap record. The official fastest lap, however, was not beaten in the race. Werner, Haase and Winkelhock set the fastest race lap with 8:07.662 minutes.
“My next targets? Very simple – to continue having a lot of fun in racing for the next few years”, said Werner with a smile in his face at the finish after he had participated in a VLN prizegiving ceremony for his first time. “It was not my initial goal to finish on the podium here. The happier I am that it went so well. It is simply great to race at the Nordschleife with the Audi R8 LMS ultra. I enjoy each and every lap. I have achieved a lot in my career. Of course, I still consider racing as a serious matter in some way, but I take it much more relaxed meanwhile.“
Behind the top three, Marc and Dennis Buch (both from Bensheim/ Germany) finished fourth in their privately entered Audi R8 LMS ultra. Georg Weiss (Monschau/ Germany), Oliver Kainz (Kottenheim/ Germany), Michael Jacobs (Roetgen-Rott/ Germany) and Jochen Krumbach (Eschweiler/ Germany) completed the top five in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Stuart Leonard and Paul Wilson (both from Great Britain) in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Stefan Aust (Münster/ Germany), Felipe Laser (Hamburg) and Ralf Oeverhaus (Osnabrück/ Germany) in a BMW Z4 GT3 entered by the Team Walkenhorst Motorsport powered by Dunlop contributed to the brand diversity in leading group.
The Bentley works team, making its debut at the Nordschleife, experienced a rather moderate race. The Continental GT3 was involved in a rear-end collision at the Fuchsröhre in lap two. The team was able to repair the damage during the race and the three British drivers Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Andy Meyrick used the remaining time to collect experience at the Nordschleife. The driver trio had impressively demonstrated the competitiveness of the Bentley already in the timed practice in which they finished seventh.
Championship: Derscheid and Flehmer in uncatchable first place
The drivers’ championship in the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring is effectively decided. Under normal circumstances, it will be highly unlikely for anyone to prevent the BMW drivers Derscheid and Flehmer from winning the championship title. The driver duo in the BMW 325i has scored its seventh class win out of eight races so far in the 2014 season and is in an uncatchable lead before the application of the final score with one void result. At the final of the season on 25 October, the two privateers will receive start number 1 in a symbolic act.
The decision in the BMW M235i Racing Cup is also taken. A fourth place was sufficient for Daniel Zils (Bendorf/ Germany), Norbert Fischer (Cologne) and Uwe Ebertz (Sinn-Fleisbach/ Germany) of the Team Adrenalin Motorsport to gain the title in the drivers’ championship and in the team championship. Team Principal Matthias Unger: „We have completed our mission. I am very happy with the running of the season. We have shown strong performances in the races and we had that little bit of luck which you also need to succeed.” The decision in the Opel Astra OPC Cup in contrast is still open. The winners of the penultimate race, Thorsten Wolter (Berlin) and brothers Heinz-Otto and Jürgen Fritzsche (both from Hückeswagen/ Germany) missed the early title by two points. With second place, Jari Nuoramo, Juha Hannonen (both from Finland) and Peter Bonk (Senden/ Germany) spoiled an early decision. Vantage Motorsport with the siblings Sarah and Nigel Moore (both from Great Britain) as well as Arne Hoffmeister (Lutter/ Germany) and Fabian Wrabetz (Bad Soden/ Germany) of the team Dörr Motorsport had a fantastic battle about the victory in the TMG GT86 Cup. After several changes in the lead during the four hour race time, the Vantage driver duo after all secured their fourth win in the current season. The Team Dörr Motorsport can however live well with second place as their strongest competitors, Alexander and Wolfgang Kudrass (both from Lohmar/ Germany), did not score any points this time due to an off in the first lap.
The season finale in the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring will take place on 25 October. The 39th DMV Münsterlandpokal will run over the usual four hour distance and will conclude the 38th season of this most popular grassroots series in Europe. The next date in the VLN calendar then is the Essen Motor Show. The unique series at the Nordschleife will be presented at a large stand in hall 6 and it will be a fixed part of the action show programme in hall 7 with selected race cars.
