“That was really a perfect start”, said David Horn who seemed to be the happiest man in the paddocks after the opening round of the VLN season 2011. Together with Sascha Bert he finished fourth overall and second in class SP9 with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. “We were aware that AMG had prepared a really good car. With the small experience, however, which had been able to collect so far and the incertitude at the first race with a totally new team, we kept our expectations small”, informed Horn whose anticipations for the first race were clearly exceeded by far.
Horn Motorsport received the black gullwing race car a little more than two weeks ago. The team manager knew the car from his participation in the 24 Hour Race at Dubai but where he participated as a driver only. His team had only 14 days to prepare the car for its first participation. “We considered the race to be a test. We will finally proceed to some further work on the suspension in cooperation with our development partner KW.” As an official technical partner of Dunlop, it was also important to collect first experience with the tyres. “I think that we have very good tyres already, but we will contribute to the further development for the 24 Hour race at the Nürburgring”, explains Horn.
The start of the season itself was marked by a close battle of the various GT3 race cars against the finally winning BMW M3 GT which, as works team, benefited from the full support from the Munich manufacturer. Horn Motorsport in contrast is a pure customer team. „But as I already said, AMG has done a great job and provided us a perfect car”, said Horn. The practice turned out to be a small lottery. Early in the morning, there was still fog all around the Nordschleife and the racing line was more or less damp or wet. With the track slowly getting dry, the times became faster and faster. With a time of 9:12,454 minutes, the SLS of Horn Motorsport was classified in place 18. “There is no need to fully push at a first rollout. In particular as the grid position for a 4 Hour Race is not that decisive”, commented David Horn who wanted to take it easy.
The first race of the year was then started in almost summer temperatures and Horn Motorsport showed an excellent performance. The duo Horn/Bert was classified in the top 10 already after a few laps. Even though the composition of the team is totally new and not yet completely co-ordinated, the pit stops were running almost perfectly. “Of course, we can still improve but the team has really done a fantastic job”, said Horn happily. Before the race end, a position on the podium was even in view, but the GT3 Mercedes had to be refuelled again before the last two laps. Whilst the crew took a few litres, the later third placed car was able to move ahead. David Horn rejoined the race at the Nordschleife almost 40 seconds later but was not able to catch up this gap.
“There is no reason for us to complain”, said Sascha Bert after the race. “My previous expectations were to gain a position in the top eight.” The second race of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring is scheduled to take place in 30th April. After the first positive determination of their position amongst the competitors, Horn Motorsport will take the second race as a test again. “We will not be that foolish to expect such a result again”, Davie Horn is aware that this was only the first important step. Many further steps will now be necessary on their way to top results. David Horn has a clear target: “We wish to score a good result at the 24 Hour Race in June.”
