The ninth round of the VLN Endurance Championship 2016 ended with a surprise. Dominik and Mario Farnbacher celebrated at the top of the podium, thus ensuring a double VLN premiere. For example, the brothers' wreath was hung over the shoulders of the brothers for the first time, and they were immortalized as the 214th and 215th race winners in the history books of the long-distance series. A long-awaited success, which they brought out in the Lexus RC-F GT prototype, thus creating another historic VLN chapter in the same breath. It was not only the first VLN overall victory for a Lexus, but the first ever for an Asian manufacturer.
In the meantime, Thomas Gerling and Hajo Müller (photo, center) were delighted not about their overall victory, but about their 20th class victory. Together with Dominik Thiemann and Jens Riemer, Müller drove the BMW E36 in the V5 class as the first participant to cross the finish line - a feat that the trio achieved for the fifth time this season. Gerling asserted himself together with Harald Hennes and Thomas Kappeler in the Cup2 class. The trio also celebrated their fifth class win this year in the Porsche 991 GT3 Cup.
For three drivers, the ninth VLN round ended with the tenth class victory of their careers: Stephan Epp won class SP3 in the Renault Clio Cup Avia Racing together with Gerrit Holthaus, Joachim Nett and brother Jürgen left the competitors in the Bonk Motorsport Peugeot 306 S16 V3 behind him, and Thomas von Löwis of Menar and his colleagues Axel Duffner and Daniel Schellhaas drove the Care for Climate Porsche Cayman GT4 to victory in the SPAT.
Another manufacturer caused a sensation in the SP10 at the beginning of October. KTM made its debut at the VLN with the X-Bow GT4 - Christopher Haase and Arne Hoffmeister made the class victory extremely successful.
All photos: SB-Medien, Stefan Baldauf, Guido ten Brink
