The VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft at the Nürburgring came up with a record grid of 200 race cars at its first round. Many drivers failed in practice already due to the difficult track conditions.
Urs Bressan, Stephan Wölflick and Mola Adebisi had to start from place 117 and finished into an excellent 66th overall position and second in their class. The Mondeo called “James” was running perfectly. Mola had joined the team for the first time and, from the very beginning, set fast lap times in the car with front wheel drive which was quite unfamiliar for him. He had only one moment of shock when he came onto some oil and spun by 180°. As this incident was broadcasted live via DVB-T, this moment of shock was shared by the fans and also by the team in the pits. The car was fortunately not damaged and the 10 seconds loss of time was noted with relief.
Initially, the class win over the clearly stronger Focus RS of the UAS Cologne was within reach. Urs was able to overtake the Focus RS in the second lap already and extended the lead in the following laps onto more than 3 minutes. Yet, he had to come to an additional fuel stop due to the standard tank fitted in the Mondeo and because of the apparent lack of performance Stephan had to let the RS with a strongly pushing Stefan Schlesack at the steering wheel go away in the second to last lap.
At the next round on 10th of April, Urs and Stephan will compete in the Focus STR “Hai” against the RS and thus have clearly better chances. We will probably also be able to welcome the Heico Volvo S40 and the Focus of the team Hermann back in the class very soon again. According to rumours, a project with a new Mazda 2.3 Turbo is also in preparation which would certainly add to the attractive competition in the class.
Further modifications on the Mondeo of Wölflick Racing are on the schedule until the 24h Race and they shall be tested in the sister car “Elke” at the 3rd VLN race for the first time.
