Temperatures in the single-digit positive range characterized the ninth round of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring. Hubert Haupt, Manuel Metzger, Yelmer Buurman and Adam Christodoulou turned out to be at least as cool. The quartet in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 from Black Falcon took pole position in qualifying with a new best time of the year (8: 01,443 minutes), drove the fastest lap (8: 02,786 minutes) and beat the four-hour race Competition through. Behind the winners of the ROWE DMV 250-mile race, the winners of the previous run, Dennis and Marc Busch together with Marc Basseng, were waved in second. The team around the twin couple from Bensheim denied the first private use of the new Audi R8 LMS presented this year. The podium was completed by Le Mans winner and Porsche works driver Nick Tandy from Great Britain and Frenchman Fred Makowiecki, who drove the new Porsche 911 GT3 R at its world premiere over the Nürburgring. Sport30 will broadcast a 1-minute summary of the race on October 24 at 19 p.m.
Manuel Metzger - VLN-Champion of the Year 2011, who was not in the service of Team Black Falcon at that time - had not dreamed that. In his second race in the beefy gullwing, he celebrated his first VLN victory. "Simply outstanding!", Were the first words after the finish line. "In the last race we came off just before the end when we were fighting for victory. Today we were compensated. "The last rounds were a shiver for the 29-year-old. In a duel with ROWE RACING's SLS AMG GT3 - with pilots Klaus Graf and Christian Hohenadel - victory was in jeopardy. "Yelmer did well, but we noticed that the ROWE-SLS was a little bit faster," Metzger said. After 21 laps, however, the vehicle of the event's name giver unscheduled the box with a technical defect and dropped out. "We've already experienced such a setback in our own bodies - that's pretty bitter. But in the end we had a very good package and deserved to win. The team has convinced with quick stops and all four drivers remained absolutely faultless. "
The Twin Busch team was satisfied with second place. "A podium finish after a trouble-free race - that shows that the vehicle also has a lot of potential in the hands of customers," said Basseng. "The Busch twins have done a perfect job again." They, for their part, were enthusiastic about the new vehicle. "The new R8 is simply a dream to drive," said Dennis Busch. "You need a lot less power to move the vehicle at the limit." Preparations for the coming season are already underway in the team. "We are already fully in the planning for 2016," said Marc Busch. “And of course we would like to start with the new R8. It's looking pretty good."
After lifting the trophy for third place, this year's Le Mans winner Tandy showed his widest grin. "We didn't expect to get on the podium right away," he said. “We drove a clean race. At this stage, the new Porsche has not yet reached its maximum potential. We completed many laps and gained valuable insights.” Above all, the Nordschleife adventure was another highlight for the 30-year-old Brit, who only contested his seventh race in the 'Green Hell'. "I've long understood why everyone says that the Nürburgring Nordschleife is the best racetrack in the world!"
Behind the leading trio, the Wochenspiegel Team Manthey again achieved a top result with fourth place in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, followed by Frikadelli-Racing, who ended up fifth with their GT3 Porsche. Sixth place went to the second ROWE RACING vehicle with drivers Kenneth Heyer, Lance David Arnold and Dutchman Stef Dusseldorp.
The ROWE DMV 250-mile race got the championship standings moving. The previous VLN table leaders made their first slip with second place in the SP3 class. Dirk and Tim Groneck in their Renault Clio had to admit defeat to Honda Civic drivers Uwe Wächtler and Dominik Fugel. A far greater drama took place around Stefan van Campenhoudt, who had been second to date. His BMW 325 suffered gearbox damage during qualifying and the Schirmer team replaced the defective component in record time. The Belgian narrowly missed his way onto the starting grid and had to follow the field after starting out of the pits. He also received the usual time penalty of one minute. In the race he then drove like he was unleashed and fought his way up to second place. Victory went to last year's champions Rolf Derscheid and Michael Flehmer. After six wins, van Campenhoudt didn't score the full points for the second time. And luck was not on the side of the third-place finishers either. Arne Hoffmeister and Fabian Wrabetz only finished fourth in the TMG GT86 Cup class and lost points. After nine races, van Campenhoudt is leading ahead of the Groneck brothers and the Dörr Motorsport duo. The championship will only be decided at the final. The 40th DMV Münsterlandpokal takes place on October 31st and lasts the usual four hours.
All photos: SB-Medien, Stefan Baldauf