The next qualifying round of the Renault Sport Speed Trophy was held during the second race of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring. 26 Renault Clio race cars were fighting about top positions during the four hours race time and provided an exciting motor sport show for all the spectators around the track. Finally, it was Jannik Olivo and Elmar Jurek again who dominated the race action.
Jannik Olivo started the race over the race distance of four hours from second grid position in the Renault Clio Cup entered by TKS Motorsport and was involved in a close fight right after the start: “First of all, two Clio race cars passed me. To avoid unnecessary collisions at this time, I just backed off and stayed behind the group trying not to get involved into any battles”, said Olivo. And the driver who lives in Berlin added: “The gaps had grown a little until the change of drivers and finally I changed the steering wheel to Elmar into second position.”
Further to the pit stop, Elmar Jurek went ahead of Dominik Brinkmann and Stefan Epp and into the lead. From this point, Jurek had the race under control and took the chequered flag as winner in class Cup 3. After Jurek and Olivo had not taken part in the first race of the season they are now back in the fight for the title. “Unfortunately, our car was not ready for the first round. We are of course very happy now that we could now start our season with a win”, said a happy Elmar Jurek. “We have won the Renault Sport Speed Trophy in the previous two years already and we wish to score a third victory this year. Our result today helped to lay the foundation”, was the summary of Jurek and Olivo regarding their target for this year’s season.
Into second place finished Dominik Brinkmann and Stefan Epp, followed by Axel Linther and Sebastian Linther. The fastest race lap of 9:33,132 minutes in the Cup 3 classification was achieved by Karl Brinker. The solo driver, however, unfortunately had to retire after eight laps.
The Renault family was happy to welcome a new team at the second round. The team T+N Motorsport, previously competing in an Opel race car at the Nürburgring, had for the first time entered a Clio. “We received a very warm welcome. All the other teams are very helpful and the assistance provided by Renault is super”, said Thomas Lennackers. The expectations of the team manager at their Renault debut were confirmed by a strong eleventh place.
The overall classification of the Renault Sport Speed Trophy now shows Elmar Jurek and Jannik Olivo as well as Holger Goedicke and Mathias Schläppi in the lead with 30 points. They are followed by Peter Utsch and Frank-Dieter Lohmann who have scored 28 points. The next round of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring will take place in two weeks time on 14 May. The 42nd Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy race which will run over a distance of six hours will certainly provide a very special challenge.
