The Aston Martin V8 GT4 with start number 189 has not competed in a race at the Eifel track since 4th of July. Hendrik Still, Wolfgang Weber, Oliver Louisoder and Klaus Hahn had finished second in class SP10 at the third classified round of the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring. About four months later, they succeeded in taking a podium finish at the 55th ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen – the series of victories for the British sports car manufacturer in class SP10 continues. And this even though, with Rüdiger Schicht and Andre Duve, Hahn was this time supported by two drivers who had ns far not gained any experience yet in racing in a Vantage at the VLN series. The same applied for Heinz Jürgen Kroner and journalist Christian Gebhardt of ‚sport auto‘ who, together with Wolfgang Schuhbauer, started with the Aston Martin Vantage V8 N430 in class SP8 and gained a considerable position on the podium.
The driver trio crossed the finish line of the 24.358 kilometres long Eifel track after 24 laps in third place and thus scored their best result of the season in class SP8. Wolfgang Schuhbauer, Aston Martin Test Centre Nürburgring Director: “The current VLN season is running extremely well for our make. Mathol Racing gained the fiftieth class victory at the last race. The teams and their drivers yet always manage to score a result on top. Another win in class SP10 and now the first result of the season on the podium in class SP8 – that is really great. I can only express my great respect for this fantastic performance to everybody involved”. The Aston Martin Test Centre team was even close to finishing in second place. After the four hour race duration, they missed this position by only 25 seconds. The third place was nevertheless a masterful debut for Heinz Jürgen Kroner. The man from Kerpen had participated in the Aston Martin Driving Academy and already collected first experience in the VLN; he made his debut in the Vantage at the race track on the German Unity Day: “A fantastic feeling to drive through the ‘Green Hell’ in this car. It was really great fun and the result on the podium of course is the highlight of this race day.”
The crew in the Aston Martin Vantage V8 GT4 had to fight for a long time in class SP10 until their result was home and dry. In the end, 18 seconds were enough to celebrate the 51st class win for the British manufacturer. Schuhbauer: “I wish to praise in particular Rüdiger Schicht. It was his first time behind the steering wheel of the Aston and he laid the foundation for the later success.” Only about 27 seconds later, David Ackermann, Jörg Wiskirchen and Axel Jahn crossed the finish line and thus brought the second Aston Martin into third position on the podium. At around mid-race, the Avia Aston driven by Norbert Bermes and Wolfgang Weber, too, was close to scoring a similar result. They were leading in their class for about two and a half hours and set amongst other fastest lap time in their class (8:56.712 minutes). In the twelfth lap, however, Bermes noted some vibrations during his stint and had to come to the pits. The findings: two broken wheel nuts at the left rear wheel of the Vantage. Bermes: “That was the consequence of a slight collision with another competitor.” A quick repair was not possible so that the Avia Aston had to stop the race and remained in the pits.
The retirement of Bermes and Weber at the 55th ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen was, however, the only fly in the ointment on an otherwise brilliant day for the Aston Martin crews. The considerable successes at the eighth VLN race of the season 2015 should provide the manufacturer with even more tailwind for the two remaining races on 17th and 31st October.
