Once more race&event / Car Collection came home with a success from the Dubai 24h-race: For the 2nd time in a row the German team landed a top ten result in this year’s long-distance race. Starting in a 84 cars strong grid the five drivers saw the checkered flag on a strong 9th-overall position. „There were lots of big-cheesed competitors which makes this result particularly excellent. I am very proud of our drivers and the whole crew”, said team leader Martin Mohr.
Heinz Schmersal, alias-driver „Tiger“ (both Wuppertal (DE)), Stephan Rösler (Lichtenfels (DE)), Thomas Schmid (Willich (DE)) and Mike Stursberg (Wermelskirchen (DE)) covered a distance of 566 laps on the 5,39 kilometer track. The overall time in the pits was just 1:24.48 hours which is the third best time of all top ten teams. Mohr: “All the teams ahead of us were factory teams or had factory drivers amongst their pilots. So you can say that we are the best real amateur team.”
For Mike Stursberg the first stint was something really special. The former mountain bike specialist celebrated his 40th birthday during the 24h-race. “The first lap of a long distance race is always something special. But with your birthday the very same day it’s simply unmatched. Just great feelings!“ With an absolutely clean stint Stursberg laid the fundament for the success. He was followed by Schmid, Schmersal, Rösler and „Tiger“. This sequence of the drivers was maintained throughout the race.
There was just one moment of shock for the race&event-squad. While overlapping another car Heinz Schmersal had a contact with the car of a backmarker resulting in a high speed spin. With just a broken rim the German reached the pits and could continue the race after a tire change. “Our Porsche was really perfect. Like in 2010, I am very satisfied”, said Schmersal.
„Although we were 6th last year, this year’s result is even more worth”, said Stephan Rösler. “We made our result against very strong competition – we have every reason to be proud!” His first two stints were in the darkness, whereas Rösler’s 3rd stint was right in the midday heat. “It was very stressful and I had some tire problems. During the first laps of every stint one had to drive very smoothly. Only this way one could get the maximum out of the tires for a whole stint.” Rösler was very impressed with the performance of the Mercedes SLS and the BMW Z4. “These are real GT3-racing cars. You can’t compare them with our Porsche Cup S.”
The nights are long in wintry Dubai, too. For about 12 hours there was gloominess in the desert country. And “Tiger” got behind the wheel for two night-stints. “I enjoyed those stints a lot as it wasn’t as warm during night-time. And thanks to the extra light flasher I had no problems with backmarkers.” The 42 year old from Wuppertal in Germany was very happy to be in the driver-seat for the last lap. “Thanks to the perfect previous driving of my teammates my only job was to bring our baby home. For safety reasons I changed tires once more and we finished without problems. Finally we didn’t make it to the camel’s ride, but we’ve beaten a number of big teams. I’m very proud of that!”
Thomas Schmid, the new member in the race&event squad and for the first time in Dubai, was extremely happy. “All expectations were exceeded, I’m really impressed! Peter Schmidt prepared the car very well. Our pit crew was great and team leader Martin Mohr perfectly pulled the strings at every pit stop. We all drove in a very constant, fast and error-free manner. I take my hat off to Heinz Schmersal, because he’s about 20 years older than the rest of us but still drives incredibly fast. This race was a great experience and I’m looking forward to more of that!”
