For the first time ever, the magic mark of 8:50 minutes at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the VLN version was beaten by a driver in the WTC BMW entered by Marco Schelp. The motor mechanic Thomas Kappeler from Bad Saulgau succeeded in making this breakthrough. Nevertheless this fabulous time was finally not sufficient to finish on top of the podium.
Before the racing team Rowe-Motorsport from Berlin could take the start to the 7th round of the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft in their race car with a cylinder capacity of 3.5 litres and with 420 HP, the team had to schedule some tests during the set-up session. The quick driver duo Schelp-Kappeler tested some new components and set-ups and realized very quickly that there was something wrong with the gearbox. Marco Schelp explained: “When it got more and more difficult to engage the gears, we decided to exchange the gearbox by way of precaution.”
Clearly younger and lighter
The temperature was as low as 8°C when the practice started at 8 o’clock exactly on Saturday morning. The team Rowe Motorsport was not that much on an exact schedule that morning. Marco Schelp explained with a smile: “We left our hotel too late and then we had some problems to get into the paddocks. Afterwards we were looking for the key of the team truck in which all the racing overalls and helmets were stored. Then we had to change clothes, in the meantime our mechanics warmed up the engine. Somehow, everything was just going wrong.” The team manager started the practice, completed two laps and was quite happy when he returned to the pits: In each lap, he set a time of 8:58 minutes. The car was running perfectly, the gearbox was working properly and the BMW even got a little more power due to the cool, extremely oxygenic air. But his young team mate Thomas Kappeler then showed what was really possible that morning. Obviously everything was running absolutely perfect in his second lap. With a lap time of 8:49 minutes, he broke the magic mark and brought the BMW into third grid position in class SP6 and into 27th grid position of the whole field. Kappeler’s comment after the practice: “Everything is really perfect now.” The team manager completed with appreciation and with a wink in his eye: “Well, Thomas is not only 20 years younger than me but also 20 kilograms lighter. That is the reason for the good time. However, I was more than happy with my laps.”
Three stops are one too much
As in the last race already Thomas Kappeler was the start driver. The second in class SP6, the BMW of the team Schmersal quickly moved into first position and Kappeler on his part was able to pass the former leader in his class. Into second position Kappeler now constantly completed fast laps and managed to more and more close the gap to the leading BMW of Schmersal – to the great delight of his team manager. As much fun Kappeler had in the race with the car – he came to the pits at the end of the eighth lap and delivered the steering wheel to Marco Schelp. Kappeler after his stint: “The start was very turbulent. I was overtaken by three Porsche as I tried not to be involved in any fights. It took a while until I was able to catch the race cars from Zuffenhausen again as these cars are clearly faster on the straights. Nevertheless, I had a quiet turn.”
Under more difficult conditions, Marc Schlep continued the good preparatory work done by Kappeler: “I had yellow flags in each of my laps. I simply couldn’t find my pace and pick up speed. It is well known that most of the accidents normally happen in the mid stint – that was bad luck for me. In addition, many smaller cars passed us during our stop – I had to make my way through the field again and this was not always easy.” The BMW came to another pit stop in lap 16. Refuelling and driver’s change was on the schedule of the pit crew which they managed safely and easy at the same time.
It was junior Kappeler’s turn now again and upon instruction of his team director, he was supposed to finish the race. Kappeler was able to go into the lead in lap 19 when the BMW Z4 of the team Schmersal which was leading up to then proceeded to his second and last pit stop. After the first two stints, the Z4 Coupé of Dörr Motorsport was shown in third place at a sufficient distance. Kappeler was quickly able to pull away and increase the distance to the second place. In lap 23, though, the WTC BMW again came to refuel for the last time on that day. “The BMW of the team Schmersal moved ahead of us again during our third refuel stop. Even though Thomas has given everything – it was not enough to win. The strategy of the team Schmersal to drive with 100 litres fuel and 50 kg more in weight and thus to have only two refuel stops was the better one. However: This race was a very tricky one. We had to calculate, to think long and hard and to tremble – until the finish”, was the summary of Schelp. And he added: “I am slowly fed up with finishing second all the time. That’s enough now – we will do everything to win our next race.“
