Happy faces in the team of Gmaxx-Racing. Ed Nicelife, Thomas Koll and Daniel Keilwitz scored their fourth victory in class SP 8 (VLN specials up to 6.200 cc cylinder capacity) at the eighth round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring. The brilliant team result was completed by the first place on top of the podium for the GT3 Corvette which was entered by Gmaxx Racing in cooperation with Callaway Competition.
In the rainy timed practice session on Saturday morning, Nicelife / Koll / Keilwitz achieved a very good 22nd position overall in the field comprising more than 200 cars. During the race, which was scheduled to cover the distance of four hours, Nicelife complained about braking problems during his stint which could, however, be sorted out at the pit stop. “Our crew has done a fantastic job”, said Nicelife. Koll took over the steering wheel of the US sports car and he then reported increasing problems with the underbody which appeared due to a collision during a start accident in the second corner. This problem, too, was solved by the Gmaxx crew so that Keilwitz could start the final turn until the race was stopped after to several accidents without any problems. “Both the performance of the car and of the drivers is perfect. Without the unforeseen problems, we would also have achieved a very good overall result today”, was the race summary of Nicelife.
The premiere of the GT3 Corvette during the endurance racing championship round started with a bang. Under difficult weather conditions, Lance David Arnold and Christian Hohenadel achieved pole position in the timed practice. Right after the race start, Hohenadel was fighting for position one but then spun due to a collision caused by Schneider. “All of a sudden, I realized a heavy impact at the rear left side and just couldn’t do anything about it”, explained Hohenadel who was able to rejoin the race and started a fight to catch up. A damage which caused due to the collision then appeared at the first pit sop. “Our tank ventilation was damaged during the incident”, informed Hohenadel. “We thus lost at least 20 seconds at each pit stop as the fuel flow rate was too low.” The pace of the GT3 Corvette out on the track in contrast was perfect. “We were very well able to keep up with out competitors”, said Arnold. “The Corvette, however, currently still suffers a lack of prestige regarding overtaking manoeuvres. The other competitors have meanwhile good used to the two Manthey Porsche but they are not yet familiar with a strong Corvette suddenly appearing in their rear view mirrors. We need to change this for the future.” When the race was stopped, the duo was found into third position.
The ninth round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring will take place on 16th October. A 30 minutes summary of the race will be broadcasted in Sport 1 on 2nd of October at 09:45hrs.
