The extremely high temperatures made the fourth round of the Opel Astra OPC Cup organised during the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring become a true heat battle. With temperatures over 30 degrees, the title defenders Heinz-Otto and Jürgen Fritzsche (Hückeswagen/ Germany) as well as their Finish team mate Hannu Luostarinen kept the coolest head and won the race of the highly competitive Opel single-make cup. With their second win in the current season, the driver trio in the Astra with start number 353 of the team Ti-Tarvike Racing also recaptured the lead of the overall classification. Daniel Bohr, Jari Nuoramo and Juha Hannonen of the team Lubner Motorsport took the chequered flag after four hours race time in second place. The podium was completed by Robin Strycek and Moritz Oestreich. For the sons of the former DTM drivers Volker Strycek and Markus Oestreich who had taken the start from pole position, this was the second finish on the podium in the Opel Astra OPC Cup.
The victory of the Fritzsche twins was not a big surprise: “We are always very competitive in wuch a weather”, explained the almost 60 years old drivers with self-confidence. “If you wish to win a race in such extreme conditions, you should not start too aggressively. You have to save tyres and keep an eye on the temperatures in order to finish in a top position.” And, after four out of ten rounds, the driver trio is also in the top position in the Cup classification. They are leading the championship superiorly having scored 71 points.
Lubner Motorsport finished the race with a laughing and a crying eye: Nuoramo, Hannonen and Bohr in the Cup-Astra with start number 345 were able to enjoy second place for the second time in a row. “It is now time for a win”, said Bohr at the finish with a view onto the six remaining rounds of the season. “We cannot afford another retirement after our zero points result in the second race when we had to stop the race after a collision which was not our fault.” Their Lubner team mates Robert Schröder, Marcel Hartl and Roger Vögeli, the previous championship leaders and winners of the last race, did not finish the race, in contrast.
Robin Strycek who finished third, also showed signs from the stresses and strains after the race. “It was a tough fight to finally finish on the podium. It was incredibly hot. So hot that I even had to shorten my first turn because I was simply too exhausted. That bothers me. We can, however, all in all be happy with the result.” Team mate Moritz Oestreich in contrast was not completely happy. “After the pole position in the timed practice, I had hoped for a better result than third place”, admitted the 23 years old driver.
Like bicycling in the sauna
Midsummer provided a true and big challenge both for drivers and cars at the fourth VLN race: With exterior temperatures exceeding 30 degrees and asphalt temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius, the values inside the cockpits were even rising to more than 60 degrees. “This is like bicycling in the sauna. There is only one solution – drink as much as you can before your stint”, said Ben Harper who shares the cockpit in start number 340 with Elmar Jurek. Moreover, Harper carries a cooling vest under his racing overall in order to keep the body temperatures at a reasonable level. Whether there is a perfect solution? “The main point in this weather is to have a good condition – you must be in really good health. Anyone returning to the pits and getting out of the race car because he is simply too exhausted may have been not perfectly prepared but is doing everything right. As you have to know where your limits are.” But not only the drivers in the Cup have mastered the strain in the Eifel, their 320 HP strong race cars, too, withstood the extremely high burden due to the high temperatures. “The technical demands on the Cup vehicles was much higher than under normal conditions. The teams had in particular to keep an eye on the tyres and the water temperature”, explained Stefan Kissling, Manager of the Opel Astra OPC Cup.
The protagonists will now have time to take a deep breath until the next race. It will only be in almost four weeks’ time that the next race, the 47th ADAC Barbarossapreis, will start on 1st of August as fifth out of ten championship rounds of the season.
