The season finale is always like an emotional roller coaster ride. On the one hand, the motorsport season is over and you can proudly look back onto your achievements. On the other hand, all committed motorsport men and women are aware that days and weeks are now lying ahead of them in which, in the true sense of the words, no wheel will turn. The endurance racing season at the ‘Green Hell’ will be concluded on 25th October with a traditional event. The 39th DMV Münsterlandpokal – well-known amongst the participants under the title ‘Schinkenrennen’ – constitutes the crowning finale of the 38th year in the VLN endurance racing championship at the Nürburgring. This title also represents part of the programme as the winners will in addition to the obligatory trophy receive a ‘Schinken”, a traditional Westphalian ham. For the over 165 teams this fact represents an additional motivation as nobody would like to miss this culinary highlight from the home area of the organising MSC Münster. The experience Nordschleife is free of charge all around the Nordschleife. The family-friendly price of 15 euro per person will become due for access to the open grandstands around the Grand Prix Circuit, inclusive of the paddocks and the starting grid. Young people under the age of 14 years have free entry. Tickets will be available at the box-offices on-site. More information around this most popular grassroots series in Europe are available in the internet under www.nuerburgring-langstrecken-serie.de.
A prize for the longest journey to the Nürburgring may in good conscience be awarded already before the race. When Tony Richards will start the practice on Saturday morning in his Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the man from New Zealand has already completed a journey of more than 18,000 kilometres. Richards, who will share the cockpit of the British super sports race car with Aston Martin Chief Dr. Ulrich Bez Andreas Bänziger from Switzerland, is the perfect demonstration that the attraction of the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife is unbroken. And he is just one out of many: Drivers from the United States, from Russia and from Thailand respond to the call of the ‘Green Hell’ just like other pilots from the neighbouring countries in Europe. Nobody can escape the reputation and fascination of the most beautiful and most demanding race track of the world.
Similar to the Aston Martin driver trio, Guy Smith, Steven Kane and Andy Meyrick also rely upon racing engineering from the British Islands. At the VLN final, the three sports car experts will drive the competitive Bentley Continental GT3 for the second time. After having made their debut at the ninth round, which was marked by a collision and subsequent repair work, the works team will now try to collect further experience in racing at the Nordschleife.
Their competitors will however not make the job easy for the newcomers. Experienced VLN teams are ready to score as many points as possible. The favourites hereby are Klaus Abbelen, Sabine Schmitz (both from Barweiler) and Patrick Huisman (Netherlands) having scored three victories so far in the current season. The driver trio in the Porsche 911 GT3 R of the team Frikadelli Racing will again be supported by Frank Stippler (Bad Münstereifel/ Germany). At the ninth race, the established Audi driver set a new lap record at the 24.358 kilometres long combination of the Nürburgring sprint course and the Nordschleife. The fact that this record will not go down in the official statistics – Stippler set the lap time in the timed practice – will not cause a lot of annoyance for him considering that all of this competitors have a great regard for this achievement.
The teams of Weiland Racing, Car Collection Motorsport and Hofor Racing will rely on the strong model of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 which has already scored three overall wins in the current season. The two crews of the Team Walkenhorst Motorsport powered by Dunlop, too, do not need to hide away. Both BMW Z4 GT3 are always good for a top position. The same applies for the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of the Wochenspiegel Team Manthey, the Audi R8 LMS ultra of brothers Dennis and Marc Busch (both from Bensheim/ Germany), the McLaren MP4 12C GT3 of the team Dörr Motorsport and the Ford GT3 driven by Jürgen Alzen Motorsport. Excitement is definitely guaranteed.
The 39th DMV Münsterlandpokal will run over the usual four hour distance. The positions on the starting grid will be decided in the timed practice between 08:30 and 10:00h and the race will be started at 12 o’clock exactly.
Nürburgring Drift Cup at the Müllenbachschleife
All the fans excited about drifting demonstrations will enjoy the fourth and last round of the Nürburgring Drift Cup to take place from 24th to 26th October 2014. Drifting experts from all over Europe will meet at the Müllenbachschleife to show an impressive performance for the spectators with screeching tyres and the hot sound of their engines. With the support of FALKEN High Performance Tyres, AUTO BILD Sportscars and Skylimit, the Nürburgring will organise one of the biggest drifting events in Germany. Tickets are available at the info°center and at the cash-boxes on-site. Holders of a VLN ticket will benefit from a reduced price on the Saturday and the Sunday tickets.
