VLN 4 - Strong initial phase without happy end
The fourth round of the VLN long-distance championship offered spectators and fans a powerful driver's field with numerous GT3 vehicles and summer temperatures.
The qualifying on Saturday morning was very promising. Heiko Hammel placed the Renault R.S. 01 GT3 with a time of 8: 05.968 minutes on sixth position. A good starting point for the four-hour race on the traditional Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
In the first laps, start driver Heiko Hammel made some places well and handed over the Renault R.S. 01 GT3 after six rounds on second position to Dieter Schmidtmann. Despite a grippal infection, he was able to take on exciting positions battle with the Porsches of Manthey-Racing and Frikadelli-Racing. Because of a defect drinking system, the battered Schmidtmann had to take some gas from round four and handed over to Hammel after six laps. After a two-hour racing distance, he was overlooked when he passed a slower participant. As a result of the subsequent collision, the front axle was severely damaged, so that the race was ended for the R.S. 01 GT3 at the track section Hohe Acht.
Team manager and driver Dieter Schmidtmann: "We were able to take the pace of the top cars from the start for the first time. The Dunlop tires worked very well in the high temperatures. Our team, which was only in this constellation since the beginning of the year, does a great job and works at the highest level before and during the races. It was a great experience for me to follow the "Grello" Porsche from Manthey-Racing over the Nordschleife. Of course, the failure is bitter, but we are all very satisfied with our team performance, it's just a lot of fun. "
In the 6h race in mid-August, the Gtronix360 team mcchip-dkr will probably not start. Further assignments in the VLN are dependent on new sponsor discussions in the coming weeks.
