The race&event team which is based at Radevormwald/ Germany will start in the 2011 VLN endurance racing championship with one new challenge and one ‘good old friend’. After two and a half successful years with the BMW Z4 M-Coupé in class SP6 the team will this year enter a Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 in addition to the Porsche 911. “The BMW had been an excellent race car and we dominated the class with six victories out of eight starts, but the number of starters in SP6 had become smaller and smaller”, says team manager Martin Mohr. “We are now looking forward to the gullwing race car, although we are aware that things will get pretty harder in class GT3”.
Heinz Schmersal, his team mate with pseudonym “Tiger” (both from Wuppertal/ Germany) and Stephan Rösler (Lichtenfels/ Germany) will very soon fight for points in a group of cars where they have to compete against many works cars. “We are almost going mad in our joy about racing in the Mercedes”, says Heinz Schmersal who celebrated his 65th anniversary a few days ago. “I can hardly wait to start at the Nordschleife with the SLS!”
Stephan Rösler has mixed feelings: “The Z4 was a super race car with a fantastic suspension but the gap to the top teams in the overall classification had become bigger and bigger. We will have better chances with the Mercedes even though the number of top cars has still increased this year. Apart from all the ambitions, it is of great importance for me to also have great fun during the race weekends!”
“Tiger” regrets that the Mercedes shall be delivered on 14th April only and will thus not be available for the first VLN race. “We are full of anticipation, so it is really a pity that we cannot race in the Mercedes at the start race of the season. Fortunately, we will have five races in total before the ADC 24 Hours, so there is plenty of time to get familiar with the SLS. I do expect positions amongst the top fifteen, perhaps also the top ten.”
Porsche 911 now in class SP7
The Porsche underwent an extensive update during winter. For the 911 GT3 will from this year no longer start in the Porsche Cup class but together with the Special up to 4000 cc, briefly in class SP7. Eckhard Geulen (Bonn/ Germany), Uwe Kolb (Bad Homburg/ Germany) and Thomas Schmid (Willich/ Germany) will be the primary drivers. The regular team will occasionally be supported by various drivers from the rest of Europe.
“Our target is to grow together as a team and to achieve a similar level of driving performance for all the drivers over the year”, says Ecki Geulen. “One or another position in the first third on class SP7 would be fantastic. A first highlight of the season will certainly be the 6h Race in May when we will compete with four drivers.”
Thomas Schmid, too, is “keen” on the new season at the Nordschleife. “Event though I must admit that the 24 Hours at Dubai in January already had been an absolute highlight, I am now looking forward to the season with race&event although I will not be able to compete in all rounds.”
“To become even more familiar with the Porsche and to improve my lap times continuously, I will try to complete as many laps as possible also in practice and at the tests”, looks Uwe Kolb ahead. “I wish to thank Martin Mohr and the team mates for their confidence placed in me in confirming my participation in the 2011 races with Race & Event.”
Service for another Porsche team
At the race weekends of the most popular endurance racing series in Europe, race&event will also service the Porsche 911 GT3 of Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff (Iserlohn/ Germany), Dr. Wolfgang Kemper (Menden/ Germany) and Gustav Edelhoff (Hemer/ Germany). Team manager Martin Mohr: „The preparation and maintenance between the races shall be assumed by the Porsche Zentrum Hagen whereas we shall be responsible for the service and the participation at the Nürburgring on-site.”
