A dramatic final and strong push decided about the victory in the TMG GT86 Cup at the season opener of the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring. After an exciting and eventful race on the 2nd of April, the team Pit Lane – AMC Sankt Vith won its first race ever in the Cup. “I am so happy”, said team manager Olivier Muytjens. As one of the drivers in the team, the Belgian himself contributed to the triumph of his team as he shared the cockpit of the Toyota with number 532 with Bruno Barbaro and „Brody“. The crucial scene that was decisive for the success occurred ten minutes before the end of the four hour race.
For quite some time it looked as if the Cup winner of last year, Arne Hoffmeister, would be victorious again with his new team mates Nils Jung and Florian Wolf. The Team Ring Racing had contracted the man from Niederdorfelden/ Germany last minute as guest starter and Hoffmeister promptly ensured pole position for the crew. “After the winter break, I was so highly motivated to come back racing here, so I didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’ when I got the invitation”, said Hoffmeister about his temporary comeback. The driver trio was leading their class up to the last lap when they started to suffer some vibrations on the front-axle and had to come in for an unscheduled pit stop. “But that’s racing”, said team manager Uwe Kleen. “We are nevertheless very happy with the Cup debut of our own car and with second place.”
Happy were also the persons in charge of the Team Leutheuser Racing & Events. They had been off for one year in the Cup and now celebrated a successful comeback with a third position and driver Benedikt Frei. An excellent Cup debut made also Mathol-Racing. With the two Americans Boris Said, the overall winner of the 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring in 2005, and IMSA sports car ace Eric Curran, two genuine celebrities shared the cockpit and became fourth in the end after an unfortunate loss of time in the first lap. “For some scheduled participations of their US team here in the VLN, they both had to get the Nordschleife permit and so they joined us here this weekend”, commented Mathol team manager Matthias Holle the participation of the US stars.
Cup manager Nico Ehlert was exuberantly happy after the thrilling action in the first race of the season: “We have had a brilliant start into the season with fantastic motor sport action and no major incidents. I am particularly happy that all of the teams in the cup made it to the finish without any retirements. This demonstrates the excellent work that our customer teams have performed in preparation of the race.” The winning team of Pit Lane – AMC Sankt Vith even worked overtime voluntarily on Saturday. “We will definitely have a beer tonight”, announced Muytjens at the prizegiving ceremony.
