The Wochenspiegel Team Manthey (WTM-Racing) extended its series of success into the second half of the VLN endurance racing championship season at the Nürburgring. Georg Weiss, Michael Jacobs, Oliver Kainz and Jochen Krumbach in their Wochenspiegel-Porsche 997 GT3 RSR finished the Rowe DMV 250 Miles Race in fifth place and narrowly missed a position on the winners’ podium. Team manager Georg Weiss: „A fantastic success for our team. Such a result is not self-evident for us considering the strong competition in the race. I am really proud of our team.”
And yet, the race day was far from starting good for WRM-Racing. The power steering in the Wochenspiegel-Porsche caused some problems right from the first practice lap. A hose had come off and the complete hydraulic liquid escaped. Even though the repair was carried out quickly, an uncertainness remained whether the servo pump had suffered some damage, too. With the exception of Krumbach, the drivers then proceeded to their obligatory laps. As the track was wet at the beginning of the session and the conditions clearly improved throughout the practice, the fourth WTM driver was scheduled to set a fast lap toward the end. This worked successfully only in part because now it was the gearbox that caused some problems. Krumbach: “I had to activate the clutch when shifting down and upshifting took almost ages.” Fortunately it was only a poti on the gearshift that was damaged and this could be repaired until the start. Grid position nine and a lap time of 8:08.514 minutes was respectable under these circumstances.
The external conditions became perfect until the start, even the sun was shining. Kainz was able to defend in position amongst the top ten and he was extremely lucky in the second lap when four cars ahead of him were involved in a collision in a 60-km-speed zone. “All of a sudden there was a huge cloud of dust ahead of me but somehow I managed to pass through without being affected.” Thereafter, Kainz moved up into third place and even went into the lead for a while in the last lap of his stint.
After the change of drivers, Jacobs remained in the top 5 with the Wochenspiegel-Porsche. As third driver, Krumbach then went back into third place again before final driver Weiss completed the last laps superiorly and finished fifth. “That was the maximum today because the competitors were simply too strong. Considering the chaotic race conditions, it was important for us to bring the Porsche to the finish without any damage because a lot of damage was produced today around the track.”
