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VLN 4 – First overall

Jun.23, 2009 • Category Racing, VLN

Hi,

sorry that I get back to you that late but I was traveling all the time. After the last race I stayed in Germany/ Hamburg for some business and private stuff. As well, yesterday I was at the Manthey Trackday.

But lets talk about to the 4th race of the VLN.

We really struggled in Qualifying. The car was exactly the same as in the 24h but Michelin gave us different set of tires, that didn’t work out that well. To explain it shortly: In the front we had a lot of grip and in the back it was extremely loose.

…massive oversteer at turn in.

That also explains, why we only started from 5th position.

For the race we found a set of tires that worked well for us last year. So we decided to start on that. I was sure it couldn’t be worth than what we had for the qualifying.

I had a good start and went directly to 4th position before the first corner. We were all very close together and were fighting hard for our positions. When we came to the Breidscheid Brige I could attack Chris Mamerow. I braked really late for the left and passed him. Same happened with Dirk Adorf. When we came to the Brünnchen I knew I have to take the chance again on the brakes and it worked out well again. You probably can imagine how good it felt to finally be again the starting driver and making my way thru from 5th to 2nd position!

With Mark Basseng it was no different. I already knew that my car was strong on the brakes and at turn in. So coming to the NordschleifeI could take some more speed for the slow left corner  and outbreak Mark.

From there on I had a clean Lap and until the end of my stint I was leading by around 20 sec.

That felt good 😉 .

When Arno took over, after a view laps the race was red flagged. By than we were in second position. It was Arno’s first race since lat year and I think he did a very good job also considering that we had the problem on Friday and in Qualifying.

Now it was again up to me to trying to gain back first and finish the race.

The restart was ok but I had no chance to pass the Ford with Thomas Mutsch on the wheel. He was extremely strong and I think we could really see the full potential of the Ford GT. I could only follow for one lap but than my laptimes dropped and I was lost lap by lap some time. We knew that their third driver Hermann Tilke still needed to drive and will probably jump into the car for the last 3 or 4 laps.

So I was continuing pushing to be on the safe side and by the time we had a our splash and dash for the last 3 laps we got back first position.

As you can see on the picture below, it was not an easy one….

but

it was a fantastic race for me starting twice and being able to make my way thru first in 2 laps. Especially with all the strong cars and drivers now.

I know the next race is only 4 days away and I will do my best to give you my view of the race  earlier than this time. 😉

Marcel

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My view of the 2009 “24h Nürburgring Race”

Jun.03, 2009 • Category 24h Nürburgring, Racing

As promised earlier I will give you my view of the race. I know it took some while, but I really wanted to get some time off and just enjoy what happened 😉 .

The tension  from the months before this race was extremely high. With all questions about the new rules and therefore the “Balance of performance” and of course if we are able to win again.

The weekend started already Thursday with the free practice and first Qualifying. In free practice I was not able to drive a lap as planned because were running out of time. In first qualifying the conditions were not very good because of the rain/ no rain.

It was my turn to go for the 2 laps that every driver needs to complete to get qualified  for the race. When Marc came in, I stayed on rain tyres but unfortunately it was already too dry and my rain tyres started to get too hot and therefore I had an uncontrollable rear end. For my second lap I changed for slick and typical Nordschleife, it started to rain! So that was it for me because on the next day we decided Marc is just going for 2 more qualifying laps. P2.

After the qualifying I was confident that we could keep the same speed as the Audis and I felt a bit more relaxed because we really didn’t know if this was the case.

Marc was the start driver and did a fantastic job. I was co-comentating the start on DSF and I was so excitited, that it was hard to sit still 😉 . For me it was another 4 hours before I got into the car and of course after Audi was taking P1 and drove lap times that we never expected we were all a bit nervous if we are able to keep the speed and follow them!

When I was going into the car, I was loaded with adrenalin and curious how my stint would be without much driving time the days before. As well, you shouldn’t forget that all Porsche works driver already drove in the 24h Daytona, 12h Sebring and many more endurance races than me this year. For me, it was this year my 4th race and maybe you can imagine the pressure I had 😉 . Luckywise I am good under pressure but of course you never know and you get usually a bit nervous before.

But my first stint showed, that there was no reason to be nervous. I was really quick and straight up to speed. I could close the gap to Audi and felt even more motivated to beat Audi and of course all the others.

For us drivers there was only one way to go and that was driving at the absolute limit of the car every single lap, no matter what!!!

About my second stint, there is not much to say. It was during the night and there was the very long yellow on the GP Track.

You could read in my Post before about the 3 min I got for not respecting the yellow. This was not the case and I was certain, that I did absolutely nothing wrong. Because of the new rules we are obliged to have a data-recorder in the car that can be only read by the officials. I was pushing Olaf , that somebody should go to the officials and show them our data and if they agree they could as well check their own. Thats what they did to verify. I was very happy that they looked at it again with the result getting our 3 min back. I have to say that this is definitely a good part of the new rules. The marshals are doing a fantastic job and I don’t blame them for anything but sometimes it is not easy for them to really see what happens and of course it is not easy to see if a car is driving under 50km/h or over for example. They always try to be as fair as possible and to see the situations right. At this point I would also thank them for what they are doing. Without all this volunteers around the track they wouldn’t be a race!

The morning has come and it was again my turn to get in the car. We gained back time step by step but we also knew, that we have to keep on pushing.

I think that this 8 laps were some of my most exciting ones on the Nordschleife. For me the “morning stints” are the bests. I love to see the sun go up, a bit less traffic, fresh air, the fans start to wake up and you are sitting in the car and just focused on driving. It felt so good that you are in a kind of own world where its just you the track and the car.

In this “state of balance” I drove the fastest Lap of the race and the whole stint was just superquick. When  Marc went in the car he even mentioned it to me while I was closing his seatbelt and I told him just push you can do it as well. And that’s what he did just a tiny bit slower than his fastest 😉 .

After this I really needed to take quick shower and a nap. When I woke up and I watched the screen, I hardly couldn’t imagine what I saw: Our car was on P1 and the Phoenix Audi dropped back. I didn’t know what happened then but I felt how a bit of the pressure was gone. The next thing in my mind was then hopefully we don’t get a problem as well after pushing that hard or hopefully we don’t get a puncture. You get one thing out of your mind and suddenly other becoming more important.

The other Audi was approx. 5 min behind us so we couldn’t completely let go and kept the speed high but not as fast as before.

My last stint was difficult from the concentration side. If you are not in need to push really hard and they tell you to drive around 9 min a lap, you have so much time to think. For example about the traffic when you pass or about the noises in the car everything is suddenly on your mind and you hope that things will just go fine…..

16.00, P1!!! I can not describe my feelings when we crossed the finish line. Everything is suddenly over and you try to realize what just happened: 4 times in a row and 5 times for me. Wow, its just amazing.

All the hard work from the Team and us drivers paid of at the end and there is not much that makes you more excited than that. Even for days afterwards you are living out of this and enjoying and realizing what happened.

All the days after I was still so “high” that I couldn’t wait to get back in the car and still now I am looking forward to next week for the next VLN race.

One thing you realize the night after the race: Pain! Every time you turn around in bed your back and butt is hurting and this for days 😉 .

I want like to thank all of you for your support and I hope that we can do it again!!!

… I mean why not? ;-))

24h-2009

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We attacked, set fastest lap and distance record — “Winner of the 24h Nürburgring/ Nordschleife 2009”

May.25, 2009 • Category 24h Nürburgring, Racing

Hi everybody,

What a race! First of all I would like to say thank you to everybody who supported me and my team.

In the next view days I will let you know more about my personal impressions of the 24h.
For the moment I need some time to understand what happened this weekend ;-)) .
Hope you understand that…
Thanks,
Marcel

Fastest lap8:36.768 – on lap 99

Laps overall: 155 = 3.933 km (2.438 miles)

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