The fifth round of the Opel Astra OPC Cup was definitely not an easy one; under difficult conditions at the Nürburgring and around the legendary Nordschleife, Tim Schrick (Munich) and Hannu Luostarinen (Adenau/ Germany) scored their second victory in the current season. The Opel Astra with start number 360 crossed the finish line after 17 race laps with an advance of 18.277 seconds ahead of Sugar Mountain (Bad Lippspringe/ Germany) and Uwe Wächtler (Zwickau/ German) in the Cup-Astra with number 357. Peter Bonk (Münster/ Germany) and Jari Nuoramo and Juha Hannonen from Finland did not only complete the top three on the podium – the driver trio also went into the lead of the Cup classification now as half of the season has been completed.
There was a big smile in the face of Tim Schrick after the race, and his Finnish team mates, too, were extremely happy about their second win of the season. “I am simply super happy”, said Schrick. “The conditions today were really extremely difficult. Some track sections were completely dry when you passed and all of a sudden they were wet when you came back in your next lap – and vice-versa”, informed the TV commentator about the track conditions. “I had never before driven in the rain with the Astra and my sole objective was to bring the car into the finish without any damage.” When the track got more and more dry towards the end of the race, Schrick’s pulse calmed down a little. “I can defend my positions very well in the dry and I can also close up again after losing positions. In the rain, however, I am really scared and I had some moments.”
The second-placed team, too, had to struggle with the difficult conditions: “It was particularly difficult today to find your rhythm”, said Wächtler. “I had a slight off but was able to catch up again.” They have also moved up in the drivers’ classification. After five of ten rounds, the Astra of the team Düchting Motorsport is shown in second position.
Peter Bonk was not happy with his race weekend. After the timed practice, the fastest lap time of the Astra with start number 347 was deleted. “I am really disappointed”, admitted the new championship leader. In addition, the race driver from Münster/ Germany was not able to take over the steering wheel in the race due to the shortened race time. Their third place was achieved by Nuoramo and Hannonen alone. The team has lodged an appeal against the decision of the organiser. The results remain provisional as a consequence.
The previous championship leaders, too, suffered had bad luck: Heinz-Otto Fritzsche (Hückeswagen/ Germany), Jürgen Fritzsche (Hückeswagen/ Germany) and Thorsten Wolter (Berlin) failed in the last lap with lack of fuel. “Had we come to a refuel stop, we would probably have finished in fifth place. It could have worked – but it didn’t this time”, said Jürgen Fritzsche. The Lubner team did however not only lose third place in the race but also the lead in the championship.
For the current champion Mario Merten (Kelberg/ Germany) and Jürgen Nett (Mayen/ Germany), the fifth race was already over before it had really begun. Nett lost control of his car in the timed practice at the section Flugplatz and damaged the car so badly that it was not possible to repair it in time for the race.
At mid-season, the Opel Astra Cup with start number 347 is in the lead of the Cup classification. Nuoramo, Hannonen and Bonk have gained the total of 101 points in the first half of the season. With only one point behind follow „Sugar Mountain“, „Honey“ and Uwe Wächtler in second place. The top three are completed by Wolter, Fritzsche and Fritzsche with a score of 89 points. The teams in the Opel Astra OPC Cup will now have a break of four weeks to recover. The 37th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen over the usual four hours distance will open the second half of the season for the Opel Make Cup during the VLN endurance racing championship on 2nd August 2014.
