189 cars have signed up for the fourth VLN round, which takes place this coming Saturday. Among them are many newcomers and of course the usual suspects. After they scored their first win at the last round (report – here), Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck are back together with Frank Stippler aboard the Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra. Also back in the hell is the Falken Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R, where Peter Dumbreck takes the seat next to Martin Ragginger, who was part of last race’s second place finish.
But they can expect strong opposition, with Rowe Racing once again fielding two of their Dunlop-shod Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3; Nico Bastian and Jan Seyffarth forming a duo that’s definitely capable of scoring another victory for the Rowe squad. The second of the gullwinged sports cars is driven by Michael Zehe and Marko Hartung. Another SLS comes from CarCollection Motorsport, where among others Henri Moser is supposed to be racing.
Back in the VLN, after a one-race hiatus, is Schubert Motorsport, fielding a single BMW Z4 GT3 for Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Dominik Baumann and Max Sandritter. All three are well known to the Schubert squad, having raced with them in the ADAC GT Masters among others. What’s new for the BMW is the fact that it’s running on Dunlop tyres this weekend, joining the other Flying-D-running Z4s of Uwe Alzen Automotive and Walkenhorst Motorsport. In particular, the Z4 centred around Uwe Alzen should be able to fight for the podium steps.
In addition to the Falken Motorsport car, the 911 GT3 R from Frikadelli Racing, with Sabine Schmitz, Klaus Abbelen and Patrick Huismann, and Pinta Team Manthey, with Robert Renauer and Michael Illbruck, should be able to fight for a Top 5 result. Another outing will see the old but reliable Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S of Marco Schelp and Dominik Schwager conquer the Nordschleife.
The Kumho-shod Audi R8 LMS ultra of TwinBusch Motorsport is back for a crack at the Green Hell, the question mark behind the performance of the twins Marc and Dennis Busch is of course the reliability and performance of their Korean tires. After enduring troubled races so far this season, Jürgen Alzen and Artur Deutgen are definitely hoping to see the checkered flag on Saturday around 4 pm; and, if so, they should have a good chance for a Top 10 result. The lone McLaren MP4-12C GT3, fielded by Dörr Motorsport, is once again driven by Rudi Adams and Arno Klasen – a problem-free run over multiple laps would be an improvement for the team that has faced a lot of struggles this year.
After the green and yellow Porsche 911 GT3 RSR sat out the last VLN race because of the clash with the Le Mans 24 Hours, the fan favourite 911 is back for this weekend’s race. Full season driver Jochen Krumbach is joined by Jörg Bergmeister. The sister Wochenspiegel RSR is piloted by Georg Weiss, Michael Jacobs and Oliver Kainz.
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