Vantage Motorsport had definitely put their mark on this six hour race. Once again Nigel Moore had gained pole position in the Toyota with start number 539 after setting fastest time in practice. The British driver duo made the pace right from the start but without being able to move decisively ahead of the chasing pack. When the first pit stop lasted longer than scheduled due to a repair at the power steering, the TMG GT 86 CS-V3 with start number 534 of the team Dörr Motorsport went into the lead. Thereafter the big tyre gambling started. Heavy rain showers in some parts of the track, dry sections in other parts of the Nordschleife required highest concentration from all the drivers. “We were then unlucky in the tyre poker”, is how Dörr Motorsport team manager Uwe Isert explained how they lost their lead during the second stint. “As we didn’t want to damage our rain tyres on the drying track, we changed back to slick tyres. Then it started to rain again very soon and our two and a half minutes lead was unfortunately gone. We were not able to catch up the gap to Vantage Motorsport afterwards.”
The delayed win finally was however not rally a surprise for Isert. “The yellow flag infringement of Vantage Motorsport is clearly visible in the video, this is why I was expecting the application of a penalty. We have suffered a lot of bad luck this season already. This time we were lucky and we accept this gift with pleasure”, said Isert. “Apart from this small mistake in our strategy, we had a fantastic race. The car was top and we didn’t have any problem either with the longer distance.” Isert confirms that TMG is doing a really great job with the organisation of the make cup. “The car is absolutely great at the Nordschleife and does not create any problems. Our drivers, too, like the series very much. We are already considering to use a third and even a fourth car next season.”
The next race of the TMG GT86 Cup will take place on 13th September during the 46th ADAC Barbarossapreis of the VLN series.
Nico Ehlert, Principal Engineer Customer Motorsport: “Once again have we seen a race that was characterized by the weather here in the Eifel region. Fortunately there were no major incidents or race suspensions during these six hours race time. A compliment to all drivers in our make cup who have performed so well in partly difficult conditions. The excellent performance of our CS-V3 even over the six hour duration is demonstrated by the positions of the winners in the overall classification. Dörr Motorsport started from 102nd grid position and finished the race in a very respectable 53rd place overall. An improvement by 49 positions is a really strong achievement.”
