Dörr Motorsport from Frankfurt am Main, Germany did remarkably well at the 35th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen, the sixth round of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring 2012, scoring the second start position and completing the first few kilometres in the lead.
Dörr Motorsport entered a total of three cars for the sixth round of the season. Rudi Adams, Arno Klasen, Henri Moser und Kai Riemer shared the McLaren MP4-12C GT3, spearheading the team at the 35th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen. Riemer secured the second start position for the British super sports car, setting a time of 8:37.582min at the end of the qualifying session. Considering the drying track the Dörr Motorsport made the right decision and sent Riemer onto the track at the best possible point in time. Shortly afterwards, the rain started again and prevented the drivers from improving their lap times.
Dörr Motorsport with Impressive Start Phase
Riemer took over the cockpit of the British super sports car during the first part of the four-hour race. When the green lights came on, the driver from Leipzig had a good start, overtaking his direct competitor for the lead, Thomas Jäger in a Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3, at the start/finish straight. The entire team was impressed by his subsequent outstanding performance: the Frankfurt-based team’s orange McLaren returned to the start/finish straight after the first lap on the approximately 25-km combination of Grand Prix Track and Nordschleife 2.5 seconds ahead of the next car. The gap continued to grow during the following lap. However, in the fourth lap Riemer came under pressure from the competitors who had closed the gap by then. “Turning into the Nordschleife and realising that I was able to leave my competitors far behind was a great feeling. It was definitely a very special moment after all my years in the VLN. Unfortunately, my tyres had deteriorated a little after four laps and I dropped to P2. I was still able to keep up though”.
Shortly after, Swiss Henri Moser took over the McLaren MP4-12C GT3. However, it was a short stint. In his out-lap exiting the pit lane; there was a misunderstanding with two other drivers during lapping in the Hatzenbach section. Even though Moser managed to control the car and avoid a crash a broken wheel suspension forced him to retire early after a very promising start.
Team Manager Uwe Isert was pleased with the performance despite a short disappointment. “We were finally able to show what the car is capable of. We are improving with every race and places on the top are possible now. We would have had no problem scoring a place in the Top 5 today and with a little luck we might even have taken a podium place”.
BMW M3 Finishes Race, Z4 M Coupé with Problems
The drivers of the BMW M3 GT4 finished the race. Stefan Kenntemich, Stefan Müller and Fabian Wrabetz grabbed start position four in their class, P50 in the overall standings, in the qualifying session. The trio finished the fifth round of the Endurance Championship Nürburgring 6th in their class and 53rd in the overall standings. However, the three drivers were forced to repit and lost more valuable time after a small collision during lapping.
Pampered with success, the three drivers of the BMW Z4 M Coupé, Stefan Aust, Arne Hoffmeister and Andreas Weishaupt, did not manage the fourth class victory in a row. Problems with the engine electronics in the qualifying session resulted in an early retirement. Even though the Z4 got back on the track for the race, this only served as a functional test.
After the race, Team Principal Rainer Dörr said, “Today was certainly not very successful for us. At first, we achieved an excellent result in the qualifying session, starting from the first row for the first time in 12 years and then our team leading the field for a few kilometres. It was a great moment which none of us will forget very soon. Considering our performance, we are confident and very motivated for the next four races”.
The second highlight of the season, the 6 Hour ADAC Ruhr Pokal Race will take place in two weeks time, along with the 24 Hour Race.
Source : Dörr Motorsport