Marco Schelp (Berlin) entered the 6h Race, a qualifying round of the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring, as double starter. He participated in the BMW Z4 Coupé entered by Dörr Motorsport and in his own vehicle – both race cars are classified in class SP6. Hereby, he never entered in a moral conflict as at all times he followed his motto: “Always put your whole heart in it” in both cars but he finished the race in only one car.
Six hours racing time alone in the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring is neither permitted by the regulations nor possible from the point of physical condition. So the team manager and driver Marco Schelp invited old and quick friends to join him on board of the former WTC-BMW. Thomas Kappeler (Bad Saulgau) and Donal Molenaar (Eemdijk / NL) took up the suede steering wheel of Schelp’s BMW at this year’s 24h Race already and they should actively support him at the 6h event, too. In practice, Dutchman Molenaar struggled a little with the car and explained afterwards: “The car is somehow different compared to the 24h Race. Engine and gearbox are fine but the balance is not very satisfying.” Thomas Kappeler, too, had some concern regarding the suspension set-up after the practice and said: “The performance is good but the suspension is not perfect. We need to find a different set-up in the period between practice and race.” The last one to practice was Marco Schelp who returned to the pits after a turn without forcing too much. The team manager, too, had to struggle a little with the suspension and together with the KK Automobile engineers, they were trying to find a different set-up. The fastest practice lap was set by Thomas Kappeler in 9:02 minutes which resulted in a second grid position in class SP6 – behind the BMW Z4 of Dörr Motorsport!
Grip – first much, then little
The junior in the team, Thomas Kappeler, was the start driver. He enjoyed the race very much which could clearly be seen from the outside and completed his laps without loosing the good practice position. Always into second place in the class, he had a smart race before some heavy rains started after a little more than 45 minutes racing time. Kappeler just ignored the rain and continued his turn before he came to the pits in lap seven to change the steering wheel to Donald Molenaar. Kappeler informed after his stint: “That was really great fun but we all are a little crazy. I did not really slow down in the rain whereupon I had quite a moment at the Döttinger Höhe: At a speed of far beyond 200 kph, all of a sudden I experienced some aquaplaning and completely lost control over the car. Waiting for a heavy impact to come, the front of my car was sliding along the guardrails until it stopped, whereupon I was able to continue the race. Fortunately, only the mudguards and the radiator grille were damaged during this incident.” Dutchman Molenaar, travelling without caravan, continued the race with as little problems as Kappeler. In heavy rain and on wet-weather tyres, he, too, enjoyed completing his laps and after two hours race time, the team was shown into 19th position overall after the WTC-BMW had started the race from 32nd grid position! Molenaar’s comment after his stint: “It was great fun! I had grip without end and the suspension set-up was perfect, too. No comparison to the practice session. Only one car overtook me during my turn – for the rest of the time it was me to overtake. Car and tyres went together perfectly.”
Loss of a place, but position one in sight
After the total of 15 race laps, Molenaar changed to Kappeler and upon instruction of the Dutchman, the pit crew again fitted rain tyres to the WTC BMW. This decision turned out to be a mistake. After only two laps Kappeler had to come back to the pits to get a set of dry-weather tyres. At this opportunity, the mechanics also filled up the fuel tank of the car of ROWE Motorsport in order to be prepared for all eventualities. The WTC BMW had another pit stop in lap 25: Team manager Schelp should now make the sensation perfect as the team into first class position had to stop due to technical problems and the race car from Germany’s capital of Berlin has moved up into place one. But it was not the day of the team manager as Schelp had to give up the attacks of the runner-up: “I was terribly tired as my turn in the rain was very exhausting. Whilst the car was running without any problems and perfectly – I am not happy with my performance.” Kappeler continued again from lap 33 and pushed very hard. Lap by lap, he reduced the gap to the current leader in the class who got more and more under pressure. But before Kappeler could start an overtaking manoeuvre, the chequered flag came out at 6 p.m. and the six hour race was finished. “The last turn was really very good and the performance of the car was incredible in the end. I was catching up a lot and already had visual contact to the leader in our class. I was able to reduce the gap to 1.47 seconds only. If the race had been one lap longer, we would definitely have won our class. But second position, too, is more than satisfying.” Marco Schelp: “That was a perfect performance of the whole team again which has worked brilliantly. The car was perfectly prepared by KK Automobile and they also worked perfectly at each pit stop. I do not need to comment on the performance of the drivers: They both had a brilliant race and done a fantastic job. The second place is fine and appropriate. And: A class victory would have been possible if I had shown a better performance in my stint and if we had not taken the wrong decision on the choice of our tyres once.”
And Schelp’s second race car? “I was the start driver in the Z4 Coupé and when it started to rain, I immediately came to the pits. Tyres and driver were changed. I had quite a good race up to then, even though I was not able to keep the position at first. But due to our early pit stop, we moved up a lot afterwards. Unfortunately, the car caught fire at the end of the race. Bad luck for me: Before the race, I took the decision to score points in the Coupé and now, as it retired, I will get no points at all. You cannot get everything – semi-season champion and summer break champion would have been too much of a good thing!”
