For the third time in a row, the winner in the Opel Astra OPC Cup classification is Mario Merten (Kelberg/ Germany). The 40 years old race driver won the eighth round of the Cup at the VLN endurance racing championship, together with Jürgen Nett (Mayen/ Germany). Their first result on the podium was achieved by Jari Nuoramo, Heikki Liiri and Juha Hannonen (all from Finland) in their Opel Astra OPC Cup with start number 347. The Finnish driver trio took the chequered flag in position two with a gap of 16 seconds behind Merten. The top three at the penultimate race of the season were completed by Maximilian Hackländer (Rüthen/ Germany), Daniela Schmid (Austria) and Christian Gebhardt (Stuttgart/ Germany).
The Opel Astra OPC Cup which made its debut this year is facing a thrilling final as Merten, due to another brilliant result, was able to reduce his gap to the championship leaders Jannik Olivo and Elmar Jurek (both from Berlin) to an almost equal score. Not only just that, but the title chances for the triple VLN champion Merten is better than ever as well now before the last round in the spectacular Opel make cup. His rivals from Berlin finished in twelfth position only which reduced their advance in the table onto four points only. In two weeks time, each of the two teams is hence in a position to win the Cup with their own means. “The strategy for the next race is clear – full attack, anything is possible”, is Merten’s statement.
The winners were fighting hard throughout the whole race. The triumph which was almost taken for sure was meanwhile hanging by a silken thread. The leading Astra with start number 350 had to come to the pits to take a stop-and-go penalty. Due to an overtaking manoeuvre under yellow flags, they lost their first place, at least temporarily, and the drivers from Finland as well as the Opel Astra driven by Hackländer, Schmid and Gebhardt were able to cover some kilometres in the lead of the Cup.
Jurek, Olivo and the whole team of TKS Motorsport, too, demonstrated a strong fighting spirit and sportsmanship, their race started during the timed practice already. Jurek went off the track in the section Metzgesfeld and damaged the front part of the Astra heavily. “It is difficult to express my anger in words, as this off was totally unnecessary. On a track section provided with new tarmac, I didn’t realize the wet surface and then became a passenger in my own car”, said Jurek. After his return to the pits, the mechanics of the TKS team started to fight against the clock to be able to start the race. Their efforts were rewarded when the crew from Berlin was able to start the race with a delay of three laps. “A big thank you to the whole team, the guys have been working so hard and finally gave us the possibility to still gain at least a few points.” Just like their rivals, TKS team manager Mario Hebler is looking forward to the big showdown in the Eifel: “We will have to attack now to the same extend as the Bonk team. That will be an exciting final.”
Even though they will have no more chances in fighting for the championship, the Finnish team as well as the crew of Düchting Motorsport were very happy with their results of the race. “That’s a great feeling”, said the Fins unanimously regarding their second place in class Cup1. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck so far and were now able to show our potential with this podium position. It is a great success to finish on the podium in view of this extremely strong competition. A victory would of course have been even better.”
A positive summary after 21 race laps was also drawn by Stefan Kissling. Volker Strycek (Dehrn/ Germany) and Hannu Luostarinen (Finland) had a guest start with start number 352 in the Opel Astra OPC Cup. “We tested some parts in several areas and everything worked perfectly”, informed Kissling. “We will use the next round for further developments again so that we are perfectly prepared for the next season.” The Cup Astra turned out to be very reliable in their first year. In the seven races of the season, 16 Cup Astra were classified out of the average of 19 starters.
The decision in the Astra Cup will be taken on 26 October 2013 at the 38th DMV Münsterlandpokal race. Jurek and Olivo are in the lead of the Cup with 159 points; 155 points have been scored by Mario Merten – the Opel fans may look forward to a hot battle for the championship at the “Green Hell”.
