The third race of the VLN had to be red flagged two and a half hours into the race because of the death of Wolf Silvester, probably due of health-related problems.
According to the track marshals, Silvester’s Opel Astra was weaving from one side of the track to the other, seemingly without control, and came to rest at the entrance of the Schwalbenschwanz section. The track marshals found Silvester unconscious and alerted the medical crew who tried to revitalize Silvester at the scene and during his transportation to the medial centre, where the attending physician pronounced him dead.
Silvester was a beloved figure in the VLN paddock. He was most remembered for his floppy hat often sitting in the pit box of Bonk Motorsport, the team he competed for in most of his VLN outings. Over the years he drove everything from a big Audi R8 LMS to a small BMW 318is. His biggest successes were the two championships he scored in 2006 and 2010, both together with his long-time teammate Mario Merten. Merten was also sharing the Opel Astra with Silvester, and the two had been quite successful in the early parts of the season, being classified second and first in the Opel Astra Cup class during the first two VLN races thus leading the Opel Astra OPC Cup. Outside the Nordschleife, Silvester also competed in some ADAC GT Masters rounds with Toni Seiler Racing/ Callaway Competition.
We at DSC would like to send our condolences to the family of Wolf Silvester.
In light of this event the race happenings are not worthy to be talked about in depth. First place went to the Phoenix-Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra of Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck plus Frank Stippler, ahead of the Falken-Porsche with Martin Ragginger and Sebastian Asch behind the wheel, one place ahead of Harold Primat and Christopher Haase aboard the second Phoenix-Audi.
Sören Herweg
