In the 38th edition of the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, Schirra Motoring competed with two MINIs, specially prepared for endurance racing. The just 1,000 kg heavy cars are being powered by a 1.6 litre turbo engine with an output of some 275 hp. The one MINI (starting number 145) has a sequential gearbox from Lütgemeier with a Megaline paddle shift system. The second MINI (starting number 144) has an improved Getrag gearbox.
The 145 car was raced by Friedrich von Bohlen, Markus Oestreich and Martin Gass. Regular driver Harald Grohs was sidelined by an infection. The second car (144) was driven by Friedrich von Bohlen, Martin Heidrich, Nico Bastian and Andres Serrano from Ecuador. This year, the team was supported by Alpecin, the well-known hair care product from cosmetics and medicine company dr. Wolff from Bielefeld. Other partners included oil company Motron and oil filter manufacturer Sauber.
The 145 car, in which Gass did well right away as a replacement driver for Grohs, ended up second in its class SP3T among numerous more powerful cars. The 144 car had to be repaired in the workshop following an accident in first qualifying. After that, the team concentrated on the best possible preparation of the car for the race in these circumstances.
In the race, the starting number 145 was among the front runners in the strongly contested class and soon ranked in the top 40 in the overall classification. The 144 car also gradually made up in the 197 cars strong field, before an accident after three and a half hours made an end to all the efforts. Bastian was pushed off the track by a Porsche at Brünnchen.
The 145 car was running for almost 14 hours, but an accident was the reason for retirement. The MINI was already 30th overall when Gass was pushed off by an opponent at Pflanzgarten.
Markus Oestreich: “Too bad, the car’s potential is good. But all the time some things happen that prevent us from claiming the rewards for our effort.”
Friedrich von Bohlen: “Both MINIs were running well. For me, the result is a disappointment.”
