The competition in the 2016 season of the TMG GT86 Cup is heating up. Each of the three VLN races of the year so far finished with a different team on top of the podium. And it is to be expected that the extensive upgrades used in the Cup on 25th June for the first time will provide extra excitement – at least for one participant. Manuel Amweg and Thomas Lampert will drive the modified TMG GT86 CS-Cup and wish to celebrate the second victory of the season with the Team Toyota Swiss Racing in the car.
After having already won the second VLN race, Amweg and Lampert, having scored 45 points so far in the Cup, are currently shown in third overall position behind the championship leaders Nils Jung and Florian Wolf (Ring Racing) as well as “Brody”/Bruno Barbaro and Olivier Muytjens (Pitlane – AMC Sankt Vith) and are now aiming at being the first to win twice.
Despite the upgrades in their racing car, Amweg and his partner don’t think that they are the favourites. “We will stick with our tactics: finish the race and scoring points. If we succeed in doing so, we will start to think about the title at the eighth round or even later”, says the Swiss driver.
Amweg, the enthusiastic hobby footballer, started his motorsport career in 2009 in the Formula Renault. In 2014, he competed in the VLN for the first time, together with his older sister Sabine. “I became right away fascinated by the Nordschleife. For me, this is the most beautiful race track on the world.” In the same year, he started to compete in a team with Thomas Lampert who is still his current team mate.
The 48-year-old driver from Liechtenstein is managing a Toyota-Lexus dealership in Vaduz and looks back onto an eventful motorsport career. He started in karting before he had to take a long break due to his forthcoming professional training and his early step into self-employment. “At the age of 25, I started to compete in motorcycle races”, Lambert remembers. He started amongst others with a Superbike at the 24 hour race of Oschersleben. The next break followed five years later, for the sake of his business and his family. “When I was 35, I got in touch with the Scuderia Hanseat by chance.” And he was again caught by the virus motorsport. In 2012, Lampert completed a training to obtain his driver licence, in 2013 he started in some races of the RCN series at the Nordschleife and participates in the TMG GT86 Cup since 2014 in a team with Amweg. The businessman likes to spend his free time with his sons (six and eight years old) hiking or cycling in the mountains.
By the way, Amweg and Lampert agree that they have the perfect partner for their engagement. “Right from the first moment, we have been working so well together”, says Amweg. And Lampert adds: “Fortunately, Manuel is not a girl, I would otherwise right away marry him”, the man from Liechtenstein says with a smile. Both Amweg and Lampert are also already excited about the upgrade of their race car: “I am really looking forward to the first kilometres in the free practice”, the Swiss says and his partner from Liechtenstein adds: “It will probably take a while to get fully familiar with the new car, but everything we have heard so far sounds really promising.”
