Marco Schelp returns to the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring with his WTCC-BMW. The true ‘sharp Berlin tongue’ will start the second round of the championship with his well-known quick BMW in class SP6 and wishes to get the class fired up together with his team mate Thomas Kappeler.
Due to a new main sponsor the name of the racing team will also be changed. Team director Marco Schelp explains: “We have been able to gain a new main sponsor. The series sponsor Rowe Mineralölwerke GmbH is our main sponsor, too, and our team is named after the company.”
Schelp will however not only compete in his car at the second round of the endurance racing championship. As usual, he will also take part in the Z4 Coupé of the team Dörr Motorsport in the same class. “We thus continue as we stopped after last year’s eighth championship round. In 2008, too, I competed with two different cars in one and the same class and finally was honoured with cups each for first and second positions”, explains Schelp with a roguish face. With a cylinder capacity of 3.5 litres and some more than 410 HP, the former WTCC-BMW has about the same output as the new Coupé of Dörr Motorsport. There are nevertheless some important differences which Schelp explains as follows: “It is quite easy to drive the Coupé and when you think you are now at your absolute limits, you are really quick then. On the other hand, as the Coupé is easy to drive, you must take care not to push too hard. Our WTCC-BMW is quite different. It is an honest and hard race with a direct and immediate reaction onto each and every manoeuvre. It hardly excuses any mistakes. In addition, the Coupé develops grip quicker due to the better aerodynamics. In my car, the grip comes almost only mechanically, which is to say through the tyres.” This is a quick and simple explanation of the main differences which however require a huge adjustment from the driver’s side.
Support from the youth
Apart from the main sponsor Schelp’s team mate is also new: Thomas Kappeler will join the Berlin team. “Kappeler has a lot of racing experience – including the Nordschleife. He has been racing in several cup classes at the Nürburgring and knows the itinerary very well”, Schelp says and distributes premature praise. The 26 years old Thomas Kappeler comes from the Lupo Cup in which he became vice champion in 2001. One year later he finished the New Beetle Cup as vice champion again. The young race driver gained further experience in the DTC and the Fiesta ST Cup. “The successes in the cup classes demonstrate that Thomas knows how to fight”, explains Marco Schelp. “For the real tough fights mostly come up in the make cups where all the drivers race with equal material.”
The timetable of the much demanded “sharp Berlin tongue” is very tight and provides for two possibilities only: Either Schelp will be the start driver in his own car and takes over the final turn in the Z4 Coupé or he starts the race in the Dörr race car and finishes in his own one. “I do not yet know how we will proceed. We must discuss the strategy in the circle with all the drivers to achieve a reasonable result.” The racing strategy itself must nevertheless not be discussed: Schelp will show a maximum performance in both cars. “A result similar to the one achieved with the double start in 2008 is desirable and not unrealistic. It is our target to gain best possible final positions for both cars and to demonstrate the many tuned beetles which side of the bread is buttered on. I would however not bet on myself because an endurance race can incorporate a lot of surprises”, is Schelp’s forecast. Indeed: One of the factors which are never to be calculated is the weather in the Eifel and just for Saturday, the weatherman predicts a relatively high chance of rain.
