The fourth round of the VLN endurance championship Nürburgring, the 48th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy organised by the MSC Adenau on the 8th of July 2017, holds a unique and special status in the VLN calendar as it is a home game in several respects.
The VLN is an organisers’ association comprising nine automobile sport clubs which joined forces in the year 1977 to organise endurance races at the unique Nürburgring Nordschleife. One of the foundation members is the MSC Adenau, a registered local club and member of the ADAC Mittelrhein, organising this fourth VLN race of the season. No other of these clubs has such a close connection to the legendary track in the Eifel region.
From the so-called „Fuchsröhre“ to the bridge in the village of Breidscheid, the track of the Nordschleife runs through the urban area of the association of municipalities. And since many participants in the endurance championship enjoy very much being in the Eifel region, they are members in the local heritage club.
The classification of the internal club championship in the category endurance racing 2016 reads somehow like an extract from the VLN entry list. In 2016, Ferrari driver Mike Jäger was the most successful ahead of Porsche driver Tim Scheerbarth and the Renault driver duo of Epp and Gerrit Holthaus. The names on the positions behind, too, are certainly familiar to the experienced VLN fans and they will again take part in 2017 after the fantastic successes which they had achieved last year: Michael Mönch (BMW 325i), Christopher Brück (Bentley Continental GT3 and Porsche 911), Horst Baumann (Lexus ISF CCS-R), Frank Kräling (Porsche 911), David Ackermann and Jörg Wiskirchen (both in Porsche 911 GT3 Cup).
At the level of frontline action, though, the MSC Adenau is also very well represented. Sabine Schmitz and Klaus Abbelen, who are this year forming an alliance with Andreas Ziegler in the Frikadelli Porsche, hope for a good result after their technical problems encountered in the third race. In 2015, the public’s darlings demonstrated with a victory and three third places that they can be successful at their home track. And after many setbacks this year and last year, a top three result would be ‘balm for their soul’.
Their rivals, though, will give the Porsche team, which will bring a second nine eleven with the two top drivers Norbert Siedler and Frank Stippler to the start, a tough time. With the recent first victory of the Ferrari 488 GT3, the Wochenspiegel Team Monschau has attracted a lot of attention. The drivers Georg Weiss, Oliver Kainz and Jochen Krumbach left all competitors behind at the third round.
Falken Motorsports will once again take a two-pronged approach with a BMW M6 GT3 and a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Walkenhorst Motorsport has entered two BMW M6 GT3 for the race and Manthey-Racing will rely on two Porsche 911 GT3-R. The winning car of the first two races, start number 911, will be driven by Richard Lietz and Romain Dumas at the Adenauer Rundstrecken Trophy race.
“Dieter Schmidtmann“ and Heiko Hammel still have a need to catch up. At the third race, the two drivers, supported by Michele Di Martino, were classified only seventh with the Renault R.S.01. With regard to the performance of the new SPX race car which made its debut this year, a top three position was in reach. A time penalty applied after the race due to non-respect of flag signals finally spoiled the small sensation, so an eye should well be kept on the competitive race car from France.
VLN premieres at the fourth round
At the fourth round, a car of the brand KIA will for the first time start in the “Green Hell”. Miguel Toril Boquoi and Bernhard Wagner are the drivers in the KIA Cee’d GT/R when it will make its debut in the VLN. The car was developed by the Team Bastuk and is entered in class SP2T (VLN Specials up to 1,750cc cylinder capacity with turbo). “The car has undergone several conversions, we have thus for example fitted a bigger tank”, explains team manager Anke Bastuck. “We wish to use the differences between competing in an endurance race compared to a sprint race in a best possible way so that we are in a position to be competitive in endurance racing, too, with our KIA.” The compact sports car from South Korea will have to fight against the brands of Renault, Peugeot and Mini in its class.
The new BMW M4 GT4 already went through its baptism of fire at the Nordschleife during the Nürburgring 24h Race. The development of the new GT4 race car built in Munich will now take its next step. The car is entered by ROWE RACING and driven by team owner Michael Zehe, Thorsten Drewes and Dirk Adorf. Until its final homologation in the GT4 class SP10, the M4 will start in class SP8T (VLN Specials up to 4,000cc cylinder capacity with turbo).
