“Considering this strong entry, we would never have expected to finish into such an excellent overall position”, commented Heinz Schmersal (Wuppertal/Germany) happily at the prizegiving ceremony for the second race of the endurance racing championship. “That was a top result for our team today and we can well continue like this”, added his team mate Stephan Rösler (Lichtenfels/Germany). After four hours race time, the duo Schmersal/Rösler took the chequered flag into 14th overall position. In addition, the team in the race&event BMW Z4 M-Coupé achieved a superior victory in the class of VLN Specials up to 3500 cc (SP 6):
In time practice already, Rösler had set fastest lap time in their class with 8:41,471 minutes which was also the new fastest time in the BMW Coupé. “This was a very good start of today and everything was running just perfect in my fast lap”, informed the 43 years old race driver. Our car was top and all the cars which we overtook were really attentive.” Team manager Martin Mohr was very happy with the performance of his team. “Before we took over the BMW, Hans-Joachim Stuck even set a time of below 8:40 minutes, but the car was 50 kilograms lighter then. Stephan’s time is brilliant!”
After the start, Röser and Rudi Adams in another BM WZ4 had an exciting fight about the lead in class SP6. “That was really racing pure, we were both involved in fantastic and fair battles with some Cup-Porsche. It was actually a pity that Adams proceeded to a pit stop after four laps”, said Rösler. “It was so close at the beginning and I was able to gain some positions. And this without being involved in any incident! I do not wish to forget a big thank you to our team as the BMW was perfectly prepared again!”
Heinz Schmersal took over the steering wheel after nine laps and extended their lead with lap times of just over nine minutes. “There were really a lot of accidents here today and I had to leave the racing line many times. The tyres picked up a lot of debris and I was fighting with vibrations as a consequence.” The final stint was then again completed by Rösler who took the chequered flag as class winner with an advance of about six minutes.
Due to an accident in the free practice, the race&event-Honda S2000 was not able to start the race. Volker Kühn had crashed into the guardrails at the section of Hocheichen. Martin Mohr: “Both axles are so badly damaged that a repair on site was not possible.”
Ninth position at the start of the season
In the Porsche Cup class with the excellent entry of 14 cars, Chris Rendlen (Stuttgart/Germany), Eckhard Geulen (Bonn/Germany) and Christoph Koslowski (Wuppertal/Germany) finished their first race of the season in the race&event-GT3 into ninth position. „This was the first start in the Porsche for all of the three drivers and they improved lap by lap. We can well continue like that, this was a good start of the season”, said Martin Mohr.
“All together, it was a great weekend”, was the summary of Ecki Geulen. “The Porsche is a wonderful car and easy to drive. I spun in lap 13 at the ‘Metzgesfeld’ but fortunately did not hit anything. In a collision at the exit of the section Fuchsröhre, I just lost a plastic part at the rear spoiler. Apart from this, everything was ok, a big compliment to the whole team for the perfect preparation!” With 9:03.234 minutes, Chris Koslowski set the fastest lap time in the last race lap. “It was a pity when the race ended. I had really great fun and I would have liked trying to break the nine minute mark.”
