The eighth round of the Opel Astra OPC Cup series will bring the make cup of the car manufacturer from Rüsselsheim/ Germany, which marks its debut this season, to the finish straight. The 2nd ROWE DMV 250-Miles Race next Saturday will be the penultimate 4 Hour Race for the Cup participants on their calendar this season. The focus will hereby above all be directed to the battle for the title in the Cup classification as this decision is still pending. The championship leaders are coming from Berlin and their names are Elmar Jurek and Jannik Olivo. The driver duo, supported by Alexander Schula, has gained two victories in the Cup Astra with start number 357 and they have scored the total 147 points so far. The two drivers had previously already shown excellent performances in the Cup classes of the VLN endurance racing championship at the Nürburgring, so their success does not occur by chance.
Their closest rival in the battle for the championship lead is Mario Merten (Kelberg/ Germany) who competes for the Team Bonk Motorsport from Münster/ Germany. The local hero and triple VLN champion has gained a lot of ground during the past two races in scoring two victories and closing up the gap to Olivo and Jurek onto a difference of 22 points. With two fastest practice laps and four fastest race laps in the Opel Astra OPC Cup in the current season, Merten demonstrated very clearly that he belongs to the fastest drivers in the Cup.
After some moderate results in the first two rounds of the season, Thorsten Wolter (Berlin) and Michael Brüggenkamp (Gersheim/ Germany) have constantly scored points starting from the third race in April. The crew in the Astra with start number 344 has secretly and quietly moved up into third position in the table. Their gap behind the leaders before the next round is 38.5 points. As the maximum of 64 points can still be gained in the last two races of the season, 30 for a race victory plus one point for the pole position and one for the fastest lap time in the respective class, the driver duo still has the chance to gain the title, at least theoretically. With a gap of 1.5 points behind follows the team entered by the ’MSC Rhön/ Leutheuser Racing & Events’ with the drivers Packeisen, Nacken and Goral – they are currently shown in fourth overall position with their Astra and start number 360.
Volker Strycek (Dehrn/ Germany) will make his debut in the Opel Astra OPC Cup next Saturday. The Opel Performance Technical Director will have a guest start in the Astra with start number 352 at the 4 Hour Race. He is entered in the team of ‘Kissling Motorsport’, together with Hannu Luostarine. The participation of the two Nordschleife experts is for testing purposes only and should contribute to the further development of the Opel Astra OPC Cup in view of the season 2014. As guest drivers, the Finnish-German driver duo will not mark any points for the drivers’ championship.
Awarding of prizes
In the races, the participants are fighting for centimetres on the track whilst they are afterwards celebrating together at the prizegiving ceremonies, analysing and discussing the races. To promote the sense of community within the cup and in the teams, valuable prizes will be awarded amongst the participants registered in the Astra Cup in a raffle during the prizegiving ceremony. The prize for the ceremony on Saturday evening is hereby donated by Bilstein.
The 2nd ROWE DMV 250-Miles Race will cover the usual distance of four hours. The race start, followed by the timed practice between 08:30 and 10:00hrs with the decisions about the grid positions, will be given at 12 o’clock exactly. Entry all around the Nordschleife is free. Admission to the paddocks and to the grandstands at the Grand prix Circuit will be granted for the family-friendly price of 15 euro per person; young people up to 14 years have free entry.
