The team of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring concluded the successful season 2009 with the traditional prizegiving ceremony at the Dorint Hotel Nürburgring. Awards were presented to all the drivers who have shown such brilliant performances past year during the ten races at the most beautiful but also most demanding race track of the world – the Nürburgring Nordschleife. In addition to the VLN specific classifications, the top drivers in the make cups of the VLN partners Honda, Renault and Seat were also honoured with cups. Top show acts such as comedian Jörg Knör and the Japanese drummer group Tentekko provided additional entertainment and the VLN family enjoyed the rest of the fascinating evening with the legendary small talks all around motor sports.
In his opening speech, Hans Jürgen Hilgeland, Chairman of the VLN Shareholders, first looked back onto the past season: “Contrary to the already emerging general economic and financial crisis, the endurance racing championship could again score a remarkable average number of participants in the qualifying races of the year 2009. The modifications in the technical regulations announced exactly one year ago here at the same place were applied in cooperation with the ADAC Nordrhein as organiser of the 24h Race at the Nürburgring and resulted in a balance of performances which was hardly ever seen before. I wish to thank our participants, partners, officials and fans, each one of those has contributed his or her part to make the year 2009 unforgettable for a long time in the future.” Looking onto the coming season, Hilgeland said: “The development of the regulations will go on in 2010. In constantly improving and optimizing the provisions, we are able to promise again exciting motor sports in the “green hell”. Our slogan hereby is: The VLN will meet the challenges in the sporting year 2010 with creativity and flexibility.”
The new manager of the Nürburgring GmbH, Hans-Joachim Koch, introduced himself to the about 500 guests with an honest and much appreciated speech. He promised that “in future, too, motor sports and such the endurance racing championship will remain in the focus of the Nürburgring.” Koch admitted that he himself as an experienced manager with more than 25 years of management experience still has a lot to learn at the Nürburgring. He added that he would be well prepared to meet this challenge. “The Nürburgring in its current configuration is a fact – it must now be our common target to make the best of it.” Koch hereby also mentioned that he wished to extend the cooperation between the VLN and the Nürburgring GmbH beyond the current racing activities. A positive impulse in 2009 had already been the use of the discotheque ‘Eifel Stadl’ for the last three prizegiving ceremonies of the endurance racing championship events. Koch concluded his speech: “Nothing will change at the Nürburgring for the VLN – unless it is for the better. This is what I stand for and already today, I am looking forward to an exciting season 2010.”
Following the official part, the VLN family finished off the evening in a festive manner. The motor sports people hereby demonstrated that they put up a pretty good show on the dance floor, too, and the coming season was discussed in detail in many small talks. The lights in the Dorint Hotel at the Nürburgring were extinguished in the early morning hours only – racing drivers who master the ‘greed hell’ ten times a year have demonstrated that they are real endurance sportspeople.
