The sun laughed over the Nürburgring and spoiled the numerous spectators with Eifel weather from a picture book. The first race of the 2014 season could not have found a better setting. After we shivered last year and drove home without having achieved anything due to the fog - it was like "60th ADAC Westfahlfahrt”The races advertised this year came across a gracious weather god.
Colorful winner's podium at the first VLN run in 2014
After four hours, three brands were on the podium. The most successful team drove the Audi R8 LMS ultra from Team Phoenix Racing. Marc Basseng, Frank Stippler and Laurens Vanthoor won a long-distance run that almost got to the sprint race. With an 8: 11,400, the team also secured pole position for the race. During the first laps, the winners flew with the pursuing competitors at intervals of only a few centimeters across the race track in the Eifel.
At the finish line, the Audi boys had a lead of almost 2 minutes. Even though the race lasted four hours and covered a total of 28 laps. The runner-up drove the Mercedes AMG SLS GT from Team Black Falcon - successful were: Andreas Simonsen, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Lance David Arnold. To complete the hustle and bustle of the various brands on the podium, the Schubert BMW Z4 GT3 with Jens Klingmann, Dominik Baumann and DTM driver Martin Tomczyk finished third.
The fastest lap of the race was driven by the Phoenix Racing winning team: 8: 08,314.
Race Report:The Audi trio dominated the action at the front of the field for long stretches. Having started from pole position, Stippler stayed in the lead and Vanthoor defended it confidently in his stint. Basseng experienced a moment of shock after a collision with a vehicle to be lapped. The team preferred the final pit stop to give the R8 LMS ultra a quick check. Uwe Alzen (Betzdorf) and Philipp Wlazik (Gladbeck) took the lead with the BMW Z4 GT3 under the application of H&R Spezialfedern until a tire damage ended their race prematurely. This paved the way for the first opening win for an Audi in the history of the endurance championship. "It was important for us to preserve our good shape from last year and to save it over the winter," said Basseng. "So we carry out the preparations for that full of self-confidence ADAC Zurich 24h race in June this year. "
The second-placed Black Falcon team gained important insights. "Our pace is not yet where we want to go," said Arnold. “But we gathered a lot of ideas during the race today about what we can improve on the vehicle in order to keep up with the others. The fact that we finished the race on the podium is very important to us drivers, because you have to shoot yourself into the Nordschleife again and again. The result also motivates us. ”Baumann was also satisfied with the race result:“ Third place feels good - that shows that the driver and team did a good job. After the long winter break, it was important for us to import and automate the entire process again. "
Behind the top trio, the two BMW Z4 GT3s from the BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS finished fourth and fifth. Jürgen Alzen (Betzdorf) and Dominik Schwager (Munich) finished sixth in the Ford GT3 ahead of the two Aston Martin debutants Stuart Leonard and Paul Wilson (both Great Britain), who finished seventh in the Vantage V12 GT3. The fastest SP7 Porsche was driven by Georg Weiss (Monschau), Oliver Kainz (Kottenheim), Michael Jacobs (Roetgen-Rott) and Jochen Krumbach (Eschweiler) in eighth place for the Wochenspiegel Team Manthey.
The first victory in the new Cup5 class went to Adrenalin Motorsport with the drivers Guido Wirtz (Cologne), Christopher Rink (Frankfurt) and Oleg Kvitka (Cologne). The trio completed 235 laps in the BMW M4i Racing during the 25-hour distance on the 24,358 km long combination of the Nürburgring short connection and the Nordschleife. Out of ten Cup touring cars that were started, seven came in the end. "It's a great picture to see the new cars racing for the first time on the Nordschleife," said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, who had traveled to the Eifel circuit to watch the premiere. "BMW and the Nürburgring share a great tradition and it was a matter close to our heart to launch the new M235i here."
The day's victory in Opel Astra OPC Cup went to Jari Nuoramo, Juha Hannonen and Ralf-Peter Bonk (all send). Second place went to TV presenters Tim Schrick (Munich) and Hannu Luostarinen (Adenau); The podium was completed by the two VLN veterans Heinz-Otto and Jürgen Fritzsche, who this year share the cockpit with Thorsten Wolter (Berlin). In the Renault Clio Cup class, the reigning champions Dirk and Tim Groneck (both Melle) had to admit defeat to the Schläppi Race-Tech duo Holger Goedicke (Weinsberg) and Mathias Schläppi (Switzerland). Leutheuser Racing & Events celebrated a double victory in the TMG GT86 Cup. Alexander Kudras (Lohmar), Martin Tschornia (Bestwig) and Wolfgang Kudrass (Lohmar) crossed the finish line 3: 11.949 minutes ahead of Jutta Beisiegel (Kaiserslautern), Pawel Ledwon (Berlin) and Ralf Goral (Moers). Victory in the Porsche Cup class went to Adam Osieka (Bonn), Steve Jahns (Luxembourg) and Christopher Mies (Heiligenhaus). The GetSpeed Performance team relegated Wolfgang Kohler (Aldingen) and Christian Menzel (Kelberg) of the Manthey-Racing team by one lap to second place.
The second round of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring starts in two weeks. The 39th DMV 4-hour race of the Düren racing community also takes place over a distance of four hours.
Moving pictures: The Sport30 broadcaster shows a 1-minute summary on April 5 at 16 p.m.
