Jochen Krumbach, tyre test driver in his main occupation, lap record holder for electrically driven cars at the Nürburgring Nordschleife and one of the three regular drivers in the Wochenspiegel-Porsche 911 GTR RSR in der VLN endurance racing championship, was in the focus on the 5th of September in many respects. At the Opel 6h ADAC Ruhr-Pokal Race, the annual season highlight in this popular grassroots series, he and his team mates Georg Weiss as well as Oliver Kainz were good to repeat their top result from last year when they had moved up onto the third position on the winners’ podium.

But the timed practice already showed that the adverse weather conditions at the Eifel track are able to spoil the even most sophisticated strategies. Jochen Krumbach, Georg Weiss and Oliver Kainz wanted to focus on setting their fast lap time in mid-practice but at this moment it had already started to rain. So those teams which had gone full attack at the very beginning of the session, were in the front. The Wochenspiegel-RSR with start number 154 was consequently shown in 27th position in the practice classification. As the rain decreased later on but the track did not completely dry up, the tyre choice was a matter for the specialists. It was still too wet for slicks but not really wet enough for rain tyres. In sixth position finished the Porsche works drivers Patrick Pilet and Jörg Bergmeister who shared the cockpit of the green and white Manthey-Porsche 911 GT3 Cup-MR with start number 92 with regular driver Christoph Breuer. The third Manthey nine-eleven, the red and white 911 GT3 Cup-MR with start number 91, was driven by „Dieter Schmidtmann“, Andreas Ziegler and Stefan Aust.

Right after the start, Jochen Krumbach performed brilliantly. When braking for the first corner at the end of the Line, the multiple VLN race winner had already gained some positions. Before the field then joined the Nordschleife, Krumbach was in third position and first amongst the Porsche drivers. When the leading cars appeared back at the “Döttinger Höhe” at the end of the first lap, it was clear that the two leading Mercedes would have to come to the pits quite soon for a tyre change. It was obvious that the drivers were looking for wet spots at the track sides to cool down their rain tyres. Jochen Krumbach in contrast used the racing line and, for the moment being, remained in third place. At the end of the second lap indeed, the drivers with the star on their bonnets came to the pits to change tyres. That was the moment for Jochen Krumbach to go into the lead.

Maro Engel in another Mercedes, he was on intermediates, started to attack and passed the Porsche. Another car which had gained a lot of places was the green and white 911 GT3 Cup-MR with start driver Patrick Pilet. After the third race lap, Jochen Krumbach, too, changed to slick tyres at the pits. He rejoined the track but then had a collision with a BMW M4 Coupé at the Grand-Prix-Circuit. “I was on the right side, the BMW on the left one. I left a lot of space but I felt an impact on a wheel.” The Wochenspiegel-Porsche spun into the grass but was able to move back onto the track under its own power. After this first part of the race, Oliver Kainz and then Georg Weiss took over the steering wheel. Their strategy was to finish the race. After an off in the track section “Schwalbenschwanz”, Patrick Pilet was however no longer able to follow up these plans. The Frenchman had to retire with front damages. The red and white 911 GT3 Cup-MR with start number 91 and drivers “Schmidtmann”, Ziegler and Aust was continuously performing in the top twenty overall. They finally took the chequered flag in 15th place and third in their class SP7. After 29 completed race laps, more than four hours race time in the VLN, the Wochenspiegel-RSR, while facing a top ten position, had to stop with technical failure.