After an interesting and exciting launch of the season, the second round of the TMG GT86 Cup to take place on 12th April as part of the Nürburgring endurance racing championship is now on the calendar. Like the 60th ADAC Westfalenfahrt, the 39th DMV Race will also cover the distance of four hours.
A new team will make its debut in the TMG GT86 Cup on this occasion. the Toyota Team Thailand has registered for this attractive make cup. This will be the first time in the long history of the VLN that a team from Thailand will be at the start. The drivers Arto Suttipong Smittachartch (58), Kiki Sak Nana (39), Nattavude Charoensukhawatana (40) and Nattapong Hortongkam (33) will take up the challenge of racing at the Nordschleife.
Smittachartch is the Presidnet of Thailand Toyota Racing Development and an ambitious amateur race driver with a lot of experience in motor sport. The name Kiki Sak Nana should not be too unknown to many Nürburgring fans. The professional race driver from Bangkok has gained first experience in racing at the Nordschleife last year at the 24 Hour Race. In his home country, Nana is considered to be a super star due to his many successes in the extremely popular Formula Drift series. Feeling more at home in international circuit racing on the other hand is Nattavude Charoensukhawatana. He has gained plenty of experience in various sports cars during the past years. He achieved his biggest success in 2001 when he won the Asian Touring Car Championship and in 2004 he finished second in the Porsche Asia Cup. he is also quite familiar with the European circuits due to his participations in the Le Mans Endurance Series. Nattapong Hortongkam celebrates his best results in formula racing and in 1999 he became Champion in the Formula Asia.
The four Thai race drivers not only have to get used to a new car at their debut on the Nordschleife, they also have to contend with the unpredictable Eifel weather. Whilst summer temperatures of more than 30°C are currently prevailing in their home country, the drivers have to wrap up warm in the clearly cooler German spring.
The TMG GT86 CS-V3 of the Toyota Team Thailand will be prepared by the well-known German team of Leipert Motorsport which thus celebrates its comeback in the VLN after a break of many years. “Our new project with the Toyota Team Thailand is a fantastic challenge which we have gladly accept. Due to our many years of experience and our success in the touring car sports and in formula racing we are looking forward to a productive cooperation with the Toyota Team Thailand and with the drivers as well,” says team director Ingo Leipert.
Nico Ehlert, Principal Engineer Customer Motorsport: “I’m delighted to welcome a new team to the TMG GT86 Cup. We are of course particularly proud that the appeal of our make cup has now got as far as Thailand. I am pretty sure that the Toyota Team Thailand and its drivers will contribute to the attractiveness of our series.”
