A strong field of extraordinary quality is getting ready to enjoy the fans at the season-opener of the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring. Whilst the temperatures according to the weather forecast will not be able to do so, the ambitious long-distance race drivers in the VLN will easily succeed in heating up the spectators at the 61st Westfalenfahrt when they will be pushing as hard as they can in chasing around the Nürburgring “Green Hell” with their race cars, ranging from close-to-production touring cars up to the most sophisticated GT3 race cars, for four hours. Current DTM champion Marco Wittmann (Fürth/ Germany) will hereby meet the champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Philipp Eng (Stuttgart/ Germany), his equivalent from Italy Matteo Cairoli and finally the current long-distance champions Rolf Derscheid (Much/ Germany) and Michael Flehmer (Overath/ Germany) as well as RCN champion Christian Büllesbach (Königswinter/ Germany). It is exactly this mixture that fascinates the spectators since decades in the VLN races: Privateers against professional drivers or, figuratively, David against Goliath. The first race in 2015 at the Nordschleife will be topped off by two world premieres. Audi has entered the new R8 LMS that was just recently presented at the Geneva Motor Show and the automobile enthusiast James Glickenhaus will bring not less than two if his individual sports cars SCG003C to the start that are supposed to face their baptism of fire at the most beautiful and most demanding race track of the world.
The Nürburgring Nordschleife attracts racing drivers from all over the world. And since 39 years, the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring has been the venue where they meet ten times a year. The grid includes sophisticated sports cars of the makes Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Porsche. But exciting motorsport will also be provided at the other end of the scale of performances. The drivers in the small Citroen Saxo or in the BMW 318is are far away from having the same power at their disposal as the ‘big banger’, but they put likewise their full heart and soul into racing and in each and every lap they are getting more and more popular with the true VLN fans. The icing on the cake this season will again be provided by the Cup classes of BMW, Opel and Toyota. With a cost-efficient budget, identical cars compete in these classes against each other in close fights. Throughout the last years, the make cups have developed to become the top category on the starting grid and offer the perfect platform for young talented drivers and ‘old hands’ likewise. Not less than 14 VLN titles will be awarded in the Cup classes.
The current champions on the other hand are individualists and one true garage team. In the team of Derscheid Motorsport, team manager and driver Rolf Derscheid himself gets involved with the preparation of the close-to-production BMW 325i. Together with his long-time partner Michael Flehmer, he will have the honour to drive start number 1 through the ‘Green Hell’. Said BMW 325i turned out to be as reliable as a Swiss clockwork last season. And after the driver duo had achieved top championship positions in the last years. They both scored their biggest triumph in 2014. Would you today ask pragmatist Derscheid about his targets for the current season, his reply would most probably be: “I simply want to compete in races together with Michael and have fun.” But who would say that the project title defence cannot provide a lot of fun, too?
In the focus of the first VLN race is definitely also the question about the first overall win. The vehicles of Audi and of the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus that will make their debut will most probably have a say in this matter. But the competition is really tough. The GT3 class figures more than 20 high-performance cars. To list the top-class teams and all the outstanding sports car drivers would go beyond the scope of this information. It is, however, worth to throw an eye onto the brave private drivers who are not at all afraid of taking up the challenges against the professional drivers. A prime example is Otto Klohs (Ludwigshafen/ Germany) who celebrated a fantastic result at the final of the season in the GT3 Porsche of Manthey-Racing. Klohs remains true to the team based in the Eifel and will take turns behind the steering wheel at the 61st ADAC Westfalenfahrt with Harald Schlotter (Schwebheim/ Germany) and Jens Richter (Wurzen/ Germany). The Frikadelli-Racing-Team, too, will figure two very fast private drivers with Klaus Abbelen and Sabine Schmitz (both from Barweiler/ Germany), they will be supported by Patrick Huisman from the Netherlands. Or the Team Walkenhorst Motorsport powered by Dunlop in which team manager Henry Walkenhorst (Melle/ Germany) and Peter Posavac (Essen/ Germany) as drivers in a BMW Z4 GT3. And these three examples are just a few examples of the many hobby racers pursuing their passion in the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring.
Anyone wishing to experience exciting motorsport with all its facets, should not miss the season-opener of the endurance racing championship. Family friendliness is an important factor in this popular grass-roots series. Tickets for the open grandstands at the Grand-Prix-Circuit, including a visit in the paddocks, in the pit lane and on the starting grid, will be available for 15 euro per item and can be purchased at the box-offices on-site. Young people up to the age of and including 14 years have free entrance. Entrance for the experience ‘Green Hell’ is free all around the Nordschleife.
The start of the four hour race will be given on Saturday at 12 o’clock. The positions on the starting grid will previously be decided in the time practice to take place from 08h30 to 10h00.
