When the starting light switches from red to green for the very first VLN round of the 2011 season on April 2nd, six Porsche 911 GT3 cars entered by Manthey Racing will be competing for points and podium positions! The goal is to match the great results from last year, and if that is beyond reach, at least to end up as the team with the most victories at the end of the season. The team from Meuspath, its regular drivers and a new signing will get a first impression one week before during the official test event.
The sporting spearhead of the team, the 2010-spec Porsche 911 GT3 R, again bears its unmistakable yellow and green livery. This car’s regular driver is Porsche and Manthey returnee Lucas Luhr. Thanks to the close partnership with Porsche Motorsport, works drivers Marc Lieb, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas will also be racing this car again this season. The line-up is being completed by Arno Klasen, who will do his utmost to match his team principal’s number of outright wins.
Another entry for 2011 is the GT3 MR in the SP7 category, powered by a four-litre RSR engine and featuring a Wochenspiegel-livery. It will be driven by Georg Weiss, Michael Jacobs and Oliver Kainz. Moreover, the trio will also be racing a GT3 R in the occasional event. After the third VLN round, they will decide with which car to enter the 24h race.
A Porsche sporting the popular “golden bears” livery will also be racing under the Manthey Racing banner. The HARIBO GT3 R will be pushed around the 24.4 km long track by Mike Stursberg, Christian Menzel and Richard Westbrook.
The fourth GT3 coming from Meuspath is the Porsche with a “pin-stripe” design. Marc Gindorf and Jochen Krumbach will be fighting for podium positions with the Moskovskaya-Sonalis Porsche. The third men and a new signing for 2011 is Philip Wlazik. The Porsche-experienced youngster, well-known from the Carrera Cup, intends to improve his skills on the Nordschleife in order to be ready for future challenges in motor racing.
Two GT3 Cup cars from Meuspath will be competing for top honours in the hotly contested Cup class. The 911 with the eye-catching Austrian flag on its sides will be driven by Rainer Holte and Arne Hoffmeister in the ten races. The search for a third driver is still ongoing. The newly-acquired 2010-spec Cup car will have Wolfgang Kohler and Frank Kräling as its drivers on the Nürburgring.
“I am proud that we can again race with a thrilling and competitive overall package”, says team principal, Olaf Manthey. However, the four times’ 24h race winner is also fascinated by the new Swabian opponents: “Next to the R8 and the BMW Z4, there will be many AMG-SLS cars. For us, this means more competitive pressure on one hand, but on the other hand, that also provides more excitement for all competitors, the media and the fans. There will be a new situation in 2011, especially as the works-supported efforts with the VW Golf and the Audi TTR are not to be underestimated either!”
All six Manthey-Porsches entered for the VLN are also likely to race in the season highlight, the classic 24h race in June.
