The KÜS Team75 Bernhard will make its debut in the VLN endurance championship Nürburgring. The team around Timo Bernhard, which is based in Palatinate, will enter a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of model year 2016, driven by David Jahn (26) from Leipzig/ Germany and Marek Böckmann (20) from Lautersheim/ Germany.
“In joining the VLN in combination with our engagement in the ADAC GT Masters, we complete our motorsport programme for the season 2017”, informs team owner Timo Bernhard. “Our family has always had a very special relationship to the Nordschleife. Of course due to my own successes at this track, but also due to one experience which is still fresh in my mind: it was in 1986, and I was a little boy, when I came to the VLN at the Ring for the first time. And now we ourselves will be at the start there as KÜS Team75 Bernhard. That’s great.”
While David Jahn has already gained a lot of experience at the Nordschleife, Marek Böckmann still has to obtain his DMSB Permit for the Nordschleife. For this purpose, he will compete in a production-based Porsche Cayman of ProSport Performance in class V5. It remains to be confirmed who will replace him in the Team 75 for these first two races. Böckmann will be supported by some key personnel in the KÜS Team75 who already have a lot of experience at the Nordschleife; those will be team principle Rüdiger Bernhard who participated in the VLN with a VW Golf 1 GTI between 1985 and 1987, team manager Klaus Graf who achieved amongst others one overall win and team owner Timo Bernhard who scored not less than ten overall victories.
“I am delighted to remain part of the KÜS Team75 Bernhard”, says Jahn. “The VLN is a great racing series and I am highly motivated to attack at the Nordschleife with our Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. I am sure that we will achieve good results. I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Böckmann, too, is looking forward to the VLN races: “I am really excited about competing for another year together with the KÜS Team75 Bernhard. The Nordschleife will be a huge challenge for me as I have no experience so far on this track. Yet, I think that I can thus learn even more and that this step is an important milestone in my further career.”
“For the KÜS Team75 Bernhard, our engagement in the VLN this year is somehow like coming back home”, informs team manager Klaus Graf. “The Bernhard family and I connect many enjoyable moments and fantastic successes with the Nordschleife. We are happy than we can carry on our cooperation with Marek this year. The VLN and the Nürburgring Nordschleife will definitely broaden his skills and he will come to know totally new aspects in racing. David will for the first time assume the role as leading driver. He will hold an important position in our VLN engagement. He knows the team and the Nordschleife perfectly and he will be an important support for Marek. His feedback and experience will be very helpful.”
