Qualifying for third round of the VLN championship saw a surprise pole winner in the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN. Alex Buncombe laid a 8:07.059 Minutes down in the 90 minutes session to put the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 on the top of the timing screens.
With a view towards their attack on the Nürburgring 24 Hours RJN decided to use a set of qualifying tires in order to qualify inside the top 4 positions, thus gaining a starting spot in the illustrious Top 30 Qualifying at the big race in June. Pole wasn’t something they were gunning for but of course they took it. Just about half a second behind in second was the Frikadelli Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 R, one place ahead of the Dörr Motorsport McLaren MP4-12C GT3. Yelmer Buurman put the Black Falcon Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in fourth. Positions five and six went to two Audi R8 LMS ultra with the Duo Felix Baumgartner/ Pierre Kaffer out-qualifying Marc Basseng/ Frank Stippler/ Marcel Fässler. The best BMW Z4 GT3 was once again the privateer one from Uwe Alzen and Philipp Wlazik in seventh, ahead of the Falken-Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R. The final spots inside the top 10 went to the GT Corse by Rinaldi Ferrari F458 GT3 and the Wochenspiegel Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
When the lights went green Lucas Ordonez was able to defend his lead but in the Mercedes-Benz Arena Patrick Huisman aboard the Frikadelli-911 found a way past the Nissan GT-R. During the course of the first race lap Ordonez had to let Hubert Haupt and Uwe Alzen get passed but was able to retake third by getting past Haupt in the Black-Falcon SLS. Meanwhile Huisman and Alzen started to storm away from the competition, opening up a 19 seconds gap during the first two race laps. But their lead was short lived with Huisman diving for the pits after lap three and Uwe Alzen doing likewise just one lap later, handing the lead to Hubert Haupt. This promoted Lucas Ordonez up again to P2. Behind the Nissan, the Dörr McLaren had to hold of a group of multiple cars to hang on to the third position.
After the first round of pit stops the Phoenix-Audi of Frank Stippler found himself in the fight for the lead with the Frikadelli-911 and Uwe Alzen’s Z4. Frank Stippler used a very early pitstop after lap two to get into contention and got into the lead at the Hohenrain Schikane at the end of lap nine. When Stippler went to hand the car over to Marc Basseng, Patrick Huisman found himself back in the lead. Huisman’s lead was just shortlived when he dived to the pits just one lap after taking the lead, following him in close comfort was Uwe Alzen in his Z4. This handed the lead to Marc VDS BMW of Dirk Adorf/ Nicky Catsburg, after their pitstop the Dörr McLaren was able to enjoy a single lap in the lead before also going in for a fuel up and new tires. Both the second Phoenix-R8 and the Black-Falcon SLS were able to stretch their fuel and fought for the lead during lap 16, with the R8 taking the lead.
Shortly before going to his second pitstop the lone Aston Martin V12 Vantage was taken out of the race, Stuart Leonard misjudged a gap and got together with a slower car on the Döttinger Höhe sending the Aston in the air. Leonard was able to get the car back to the pit, where it was retired on the spot. Going into the final hour Marc Basseng found himself in the lead, when he dived for the pits to hand over to Marcel Fässler for the final turn. Still in contention for the overall victory were both Marc VDS BMWs, the second Phoenix-R8, the Dörr McLaren, the 911 of Frikadelli-Racing plus the Black-Falcon SLS. With the second Phoenix-R8 holding the lead from the Black-Falcon SLS.
First taken out of contention for the victory was the Phoenix-R8 of Laurens Vanthoor/ Chris Mamero/ Christopher Haase, their Audi caught fire during their final splash and dash pit stop. With just ten minutes to go Christian Menzel visited the Black Falcon pits for a final fuel up, handing the lead to Nick Catsburg. The last up had all the ingredients of a shootout, with six cars all within 20 seconds. Catsburg was able to control his lead and take the chequers first, holding off the hard charging Kevin Estre in the Dörr McLaren. The McLaren GT Worksdriver finished in second, just 3,5 seconds down from Catsburg.
The fight for third went down to the wire. Marco Wittmann (Marc VDS), Christian Menzel (Black Falcon) and Marcel Fässler (Phoenix Racing) took the turn to the Nordschleife bumper to bumper. In addition Uwe Alzen charged back trying to close up to the three cars ahead of him. At the Adenauer Forest Marcel Fässler was able to bump himself by Christian Menzel and just a few kilometres down the road Marco Wittmann crashed during a misjudged overtake manoeuvre on a slower car. Wittmann retired on the spot, handing the third position to Marcel Fässler.
Uwe Alzen finished in fourth, while Christian Menzel brought a broken SLS home in fifth. The next two spots went two the Porsche 911 GT3 R of Frikadelli Racing and Falken Motorsports. Lucas Ordonez, Florian Strauss and Alex Buncombe crossed the line in eight. With the Walkenhorst-Z4 of Henry Walkenhorst/ Ralf Oeverhaus plus the GT Corse by Rinaldi Ferrari rounding out the Top ten.
The next VLN race takes place on May 17th. The 45. Adenauer ADAC Simfy Trophy is also the final race before the Nürburgring 24 Hours and with a five week gap to the big race in June, the grid should be a big one once again.
Soren Herweg
