Six weeks after the last race of the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring and three weeks after the 24 Hour Race, one can finally enjoy the sounds of the racing engines in the “Green Hell” again. On Saturday, 13th of June, the most popular endurance racing series of Europe will start into the second third of its season. The endurance racing specialists of this unique series held at the Nordschleife will henceforth be amongst themselves again. Anyone who thinks that the quality of the entry might consequently suffer at the 40th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy must be ready to learn otherwise. Exciting motorsport is to be expected at the event organised by the MSC Adenau and running over four hours on the 24.359 kilometres long combination of the Nürburgring short connection and the Nordschleife. And although the 2009 season is already well advanced, new projects promising a lot of excitement are waiting in the wings.
Two teams which regularly take part in the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring have clearly left their mark on the 24 Hour Race. In the timed practice, Dirk Adorf in the brand new Ford GT entered by Raeder-Motorsport was pushing very hard, left the competition behind and surprisingly achieved pole position. In the first race laps, the triple endurance racing champion (1992, 1996, 1997) gave an example of the impressive performance of the GT3 sports car. In the direct battle with the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Manthey-Racing, Adorf lost only after an accident due to lapping a competitor. The said Manthey Porsche then made the pace for the rest of the race. Regular driver Marcel Tiemann (Monaco) – since many years constantly participating in the endurance racing championship – gained his fifth 24h race victory and is thus now the sole record holder of the Eifel marathon race. Both cars will participate again in the 40th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy. Adorf’s team mates in the quick Ford will be Hermann Tilke (Aachen) and Thomas Mutsch (Bitburg). In addition to Tiemann, the Manthey RSR will be driven by Arno Klasen (Karlshausen). The experienced hobby race driver can score the considerable number of 19 overall victories.
At the 24 Hour Race, the Audi R8 LMS was the only car which could permanently go the pace of the fast Manthey Porsche. After a few race participations only, the GT3 race car from Ingolstadt quickly tuned out to be the shooting star at the Nordschleife and the favourite of the spectators. With René Rast (Stolzenau), Dennis Rosteck (Porta Westfalica) and Nicki Thiim (Rinteln), a new drivers’ team is entered by Phoenix-Racing for the fourth round of the championship season. Whilst Rosteck has a racing experience at the “Green Hell” for years, Rast and Thiim have in particular gained reputation in the German make cup scene. A combination which might cause quite a stir.
A surprise was the result of Uwe Alzen (Betzdorf) in the 24 Hour Race. With his new and own racing team, the record driver at the Nordschleife gained straightaway fourth position at the classical endurance race – and this in a standard Cup-Porsche without any extensive modifications for a Nordschleife set-up. Together with Lance David Arnold (Duisburg), who celebrated his first overall victory at the second championship round in 2009, Alzen is not only aiming at the victory in the highly competitive Porsche Cup class but wishes to also leave one or another quicker car behind in the overall classification.
The said ‘quicker’ cars are amongst others the Porsches of Frikadelli-Racing, Jürgen-Alzen-Motorsport, M-Speed, Mamerow-Racing and Mühlner-Motorsport. However, Michael Bäder (Ofterdingen) and Tobias Hagenmeyer (Cologne) with their BMW Z4 M Coupé, Roland Rehfeld (Berlin), Reinhold Renger (Rothenburg-Tauber) and Hannu Luostarinen (Finland) in the Kissling-Corvette as well as Andreas and Ralf Schall (both from Dornstadt) in the Opel Astra V8 Coupé from the DTM should not be underestimated, either.
Premium, free of charge service for the fans: DVB-T around the Nürburgring
The BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring makes a tremendously big step towards the future in being the first racing series in Germany providing free of charge, on-site digital television for the fans at all the championship rounds. In cooperation with the company Wige Media AG, four DVB-T channels will be available – two channels with live footage from the Grand Prix Circuit and from the pit lane as well as two data channels with live results. This premium service can be used with any DVB-T receiver. Appropriate units are on sale at a moderate price in the endurance racing fan shop located in the paddocks between pits three and four.
Test and practice already possible on Thursday before the race
The BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft teams and any further interested parties will have the possibility to test and practice on the Nürburgring Grand Prix Circuit on Thursday, 11th June (Feast of Corpus Christi) already. The ‘Free Test’ organised by the VLN Club MSC Münster will take place in groups between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Entries are accepted from 7 a.m. on-site at the Drivers’ Information in the paddocks.
