The sixth round of the endurance racing championship season at the Nürburgring, finished with a third successive class win for the race&event team from Radevormwalde/ Germany. So the Audi TT-RS achieved a flawless hat trick in the class of Specials with turbo and up to 2600 cc (SP4T) and finished on the podium for the sixth time in a row. The excellent result of the team was completed by the 17th overall position for the race&event-Porsche 911 GT3-Cup.
“That was one of the best results in the history of race&event”, said team manager Martin Mohr happily. “14th and 17th overall places, furthermore a third victory in a row for the Audi and the Cup Porsche finishing in the top 20 for the first time – a big thank you to all those who have contributed to this success.”
After four hours driving time, Heinz Schmersal from Wuppertal/ Germany and “Tiger” as well as Patrik Kaiser from Schellenberg in Liechtensein were lying in each others arms. The silver race&event-Audi crossed the finish line with an advance of 45.352 seconds. “From race to race, we are learning more about the TT”, said Heinz Schmersal. By the way, the 66 years old man was proud that it was him who set the fastest time of the driver trio with 8:43.138 minutes in his final stint, even though he was down with influenza! “I am not in my old days yet! The spirit in our team is just great and today, it was simply the oldest which was the fastest.”
Start driver “Tiger” was very lucky not to be involved in a crash after the start. “Just in front of me, a Scirocco and an Audi had a collision and I had to make a big turn to get around, even through the gravel bed. I lost about 12 to 15 places. When I was then catching up, it was in particular another Audi TT which blocked me heavily.” At mid-race, it was the turn for Patrick Kaiser who added another three laps to his full eight lap stint. “I was supposed to stay out a little longer due to Heinz’s flu. It was running very well and I had a perfect race. I would have really liked to just remain in the car and carry on!”
Overall position 17 for the Cup-Porsche
The best result of the Porsche 911 GT3-Cup was provided by Thomas Sluis (Schwelm/ Germany), Thomas Schmid (Willich/ Germany) and Lorenzo Rocco (Vesenaz/ Switzerland). After 27 laps, the driver trio was able to enjoy a sixth place in the class of Specials up to 4000 cc and a 17th overall position. “I lost a few places at the start but thereafter, everything was running just perfectly”, said Sluis. “The suspension which we had chosen was a little too soft because we were expecting some rain. But it was not really a problem.”
Thomas Schmid, second driver, completed the fastest lap time with 8:55.545 minutes and was happy that finally there were not so many sectors under yellow flags disturbing his rhythm. “This was a really perfect day. I am now looking forward to the six hour race where we wish to achieve a similar result.” Lorenzo Rocco finally finished the race safely in the 911. “A big compliment to race&event, it was an all-round successful weekend!”
The Audi TT will not be at the start of the six hour race in two weeks time. Heinz Schmersal will therefore compete with his friends Johannes Kirchhoff (Iserlohn/ Germany) and Gustav Edelhoff (Hemer/ Germany) in the team of PoLe Racing in the Porsche 911 GT2-Cup which the race driver from Wuppertal still knows very well from the Dubai race. The steering wheel of the Cup-Porsche will be shared between Thomas Schmid and Eckhard Geulen (Bonn/ Germany), Uwe Kolb (Bad Homburg) as well as Markus Tesch (Kempten/ Germany).
