Comebacks – Back to the VLN

The fascination Nordschleife is unbroken even 88 years after the inauguration of the Eifel track. Teams and drivers from all over the world are captivated by this oldest race track in Germany. So it is not really surprising to see a number of teams rejoining the VLN family in 2016 and seeking for the adventure Nordschleife again after some years of absence.
In the years 2004 to 2008, a Porsche team from the Westerwald, a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine, had attracted a great attention in the VLN and this was Land Motorsport. The crew around the experienced team owner Wolfgang Land had entered a Porsche 911 in the colours of Bilstein to compete at the Nordschleife and they won the hearts of the fans pretty soon. Not less than 19 overall wins was their track record at the end of the five years. Land Motorsport can rightly claim for itself to have been the best team in an exciting VLN era.

After seven years of absence, they will now start again at the Green Hell. And, as a complete novelty for the racing team around the double Champion in the Porsche Carrera Cup, it will for the first time ever not be a nine eleven coming from the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen factory that will be on the starting grid for Land Motorsport. This year, the team will compete in eight races with an Audi R8 LMS. One factor, however, will remain unchanged: Regular driver Marc Basseng. Basseng, who was born in Cologne, celebrated fantastic successes in the Bilstein-Porsche and ranks among the best drivers at the Nordschleife. Their target for the season 2016 is clearly defined: Basseng and Land want to secure their 20th common success.

A complete report on further comebacks is published in the Racing News. The first edition of the year 2016 is available from 1st of April on-site at the Nürburgring and for download from this homepage from Saturday, 2nd April.