This race was something very special for the team “Jaco’s Paddock Motorsport“. Apart from the familiar BMW M3 with regular drivers Teofilo Masera and Lorenzo Rocco (both from Italy), a second BMW 325i which attracted a lot of attention was entered for the 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen. Three guest drivers from Guatemala started the race at the “green hell” in the more than 200 HP strong BMW in class V4. Under the very changing weather conditions during that weekend in the Eifel region, this was hence a very busy race for the team.
The three drivers Augustin Casse, Erick Samayoa and Juan Pablo Diaz could draw upon some hundred laps of experience at the Nordschleife – they had practiced at home on a PlayStation. During the set-up session on Friday, they were then able to complete their first fast laps on the track itself. The Guatemalan were supported by an own camera team from their home country.
First of all, the weather on Saturday morning was dry and quite friendly. Without taking too high risks just before a 6h race, both BMW race cars finished the practice into good positions in the upper middle field. “A 6h race cannot be won in the timed practice”, was the statement of the Nürburgring experienced team manager Jaco Velders. So they started their first laps of the endurance race at 12 o’clock exactly.
After almost one hour race time already, the weather changed and it started to rain, followed by sun shine and rain again. Everything was turned upside down, but no one of the BMW was involved in an incident and they both finished the 6 hour race without any damage. “It was really much work here in the pits – the changing weather conditions and two cars in the race made us really sweat during the competition”, said Velders.
The work was however rewarded with a sixth place in class V6 for the BMW M3 and an excellent tenth position in class V4 for the BMW 325i. “Our guests from Guatemala are very happy and satisfied that both cars have finished the race without damages. What more do you want?”, explains Velders happily after the race,
