Double power for Gmaxx Racing at the traditional season highlight of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring: Ed Nicelife, Thomas Koll, Harry Ley and Jörg Stephan competed with two technically identical Gmaxx Corvette GTR at the Nordschleife and were able to celebrate a class win.
With their exciting noise, the Gmaxx Racing cars once again enjoyed the many fans which had travelled to the very popular spectator points around the Nordschleife. The two Corvette GTR, the well-known yellow-black one (#130) as well as the newer grey red vehicle (#140) attracted a lot of attention In practice already with their fantastic sound.
Thomas Koll nevertheless had a slight moment of panic in practice in the Kallenhard section. They appeared to have some problems at a rear wheel and discovered, during a safety stop at Breidscheid, that a wheel nut had become loose – Koll would definitely not have been able to continue on four wheels for a long time.
The US race car was recovered back to the paddocks and the Gmaxx crew was fighting against the time to identify and solve the problem and still to be able to continue in practice. Finally they made it to complete exactly one timed lap and the race could now start.
So the Gmaxx quartet made up of the drivers Ed Nicelife, Thomas Koll, Harry Ley and Jörg Stephan which was entered in both cars had two irons in the fire when the 6h Race was started, despite the problems in practice.
Both of the V8 race cars completed the first race laps in a spectacular side to side formation. This impressing picture however found a sudden end after two complete laps already – the cardan shaft in the grey Corvette with start number 140 broke – the car stopped at Breidscheid.
The race was running quite differently for the sister car with start number 130. The team was moving up in the overall classification place by place, all of the four drivers handled the American race car very well.
But whilst the incredible sound of the Chevi V8 smallblock engine enjoyed the spectators more and more every time it passed, raised eyebrows could be observed in race control around mid-race. Due to a loose ceramic part in the catalytic unit, the Gmaxx Corvette GTR was getting louder and louder so that the team was ordered to proceed to a pit stop by Race Control in mid-race to change the exhaust system.
The many team members and mechanics of Gmaxx Racing changed the complete exhaust system in a record time in order to be able to rejoin the race. And the meanwhile a little stressed team had to face another test: The clutch in the Corvette GTR failed after 31 laps.
The following laps in the final part of the race then demonstrated the incredible torque of the eight cylinder engine. The crew in the Corvette had only fourth gear for the last laps of the race. The loss of time, however, was not too big, their lap times were only about twenty seconds slower and the slowed down GTR was finally able to celebrate a class win after six hours race duration.
