Although the result at the final round of the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring 2009 was not very satisfying, the team of Vulkan Racing Mintgen is highly pleased when looking back onto the 2009 season.
The wonderful autumn weather invited all the fans once again to come to the Nürburgring Nordschleife for the 34th DMV Münsterlandpokal race, the season final of the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft. The Vulkan Racing-Team Mintgen Motorsport was supported by former DTM professional driver Gianni Giudici at this last round. On Friday already, he was able to test the car and was very pleased with the development work applied by Michael Mintgen during the season on the Dodge Viper GT3 Competition Coupe. And also the mentality of the team from the Eifel region and of the guests from Italy harmonised so well that Gianni Giudici spoke in high terms both of the car and of the team. “Just perfect” was his short but clear statement.
The practice on Saturday morning finished with a time of 8:27 minutes and with a damaged suspension unit. It was probably in one of the fastest sections, the Tiergarten area, that a plate which was welded on and on which the wishbone was mounted broke. Dirk Riebensahm fortunately was able to avoid a heavy accident in the popular green Dodge Viper Coupe. The team was working on the Viper until just after the race start so that Dirk Riebensahm had to take the start from the pit lane behind the first starting group. During the race, they got problems with the tyres in almost regular intervals. After four laps at the Nordschleife, Dirk Riebensahm and Christian Kohlhaas every time complained about a loss of confidence in controlling the Viper. The problems were the tyres which did not get enough temperature at this cool late autumn weather to build up grip. A problem which other teams, too, experienced. They jointly decided then to stop the race as they had anyhow no more chances to move up into the leading group after the repairs at the beginning of the race. Apart from the tyres and the broken suspension, the Dodge Viper GT3 Competition Coupe on the 2009 technical standard was running perfectly.
Michael Mintgen hence takes a positive summary of the season, despite the problems they had suffered. “We are very happy with the running of the season and with the technical development from the beginning of the season until now, which was an enormous big step forwards. During the year, we were able to improve our times by about 15 seconds”. Drivers and engineers of the Vulkan Racing-Team Mintgen Motorsport nevertheless see some more potential for further development. During winter, they will for example work on the suspension and on the detailed final set-up.
The participation of guest driver Gianni Giudici this weekend will continue with a further cooperation. End of November, the Vulkan Racing-Team Mintgen Motorsport will participate in the 6h Race of Vallelunga together with the Scuderia-Giudici. This should be a small step into the right direction as in 2010 they wish to offer the interesting Dodge Viper package to clients, too, and enter a second Dodge-Viper Competition for the Nordschleife. The Vulkan Racing-Team Mintgen Motorsport is already now planning the 2010 season in detail.
The snakes will bite again!
