The Dörr Motorsport McLaren MP4-12C GT3 took the second top five place of the season at the 6-Hour ADAC Ruhr-Pokal Race. The BMW Z4 M Coupé retired one hour before the end of the race from the first place in its class.
Drivers Rudi Adams, Arno Klasen, Henri Moser and Kai Riemer showed in the first qualifying session of the seventh VLN endurance race that Dörr Motorsport continued to improve the car after the previous race. Setting a lap time of 8:13.560 min, Rudi Adams completed the fastest lap in a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 at the Nordschleife so far. The lap time made for an overall start position 9, just over five seconds behind the pole position.
Team loses Time after Crash
After the impressive performance in the previous race when the McLaren led the field in the first hour of the race, Kai Riemer was again the first driver to take over the English sports car for the start stint. Even though the driver from Leipzig did not gain any places at first, he pushed forward to P8 at the end of the first lap. The MP4-12C overtook another competitor during the next laps. However, the four drivers lost valuable time after a crash with the Schubert BMW Z4 at the start of the fifth lap. Riemer had to pit early due to a tyre puncture. Rudi Adams took the car over from Riemer and from that moment on all drivers completed their stints in the 6-hour race without major problems.
Rudi Adams, Arno Klasen, Henri Moser and Kai Riemer continued to set steady lap times. Therefore they finished the seventh race of the season fifth in the overall standings, despite a spin and the tyre puncture after the start. “Everything worked out well after the tyre puncture and the crash after the start. Considering that we lost about three minutes due to the two incidents, the fourth place might have been possible. Even though Arno Klasen made for an exciting last lap, we now know that we are able to complete eight continuous laps”, said team manager Uwe Isert. Five minutes before the chequered flag was waved to signal the end of the race it started to rain in some parts of the Nordschleife.
No Class Victory Due To Engine Failure
One again, the day of the race started with setting the fastest lap in the class of the modified cars with a cylinder capacity of up to 3.5 litres for drivers Stefan Aust, Uwe Ebertz, Arne Hoffmeister and Andreas Weishaupt. With a lap time of 8:38.829 min, the four drivers were over a minute faster than their direct competitors, taking an overall start position 28.
Andreas Weishaupt took the Z4 over for the first part of the 6-hour race. Even though the driver from Münster lost a few places in the first lap, the lead in the class was never at risk. Having had pushed forward to P16 after two hours, Aust/Ebertz/Hoffmeister/Weishaupt defended their place during the next laps. The four drivers were headed toward their fourth class victory when the car was forced to retire after an engine failure in the Kesselchen sector an hour before the end of the race.
Team Principal Rainer Dörr remained positive after the race despite the missed class victory. “Seeing our car in the fifth place after six hours is great. It is too bad that we lost time so early in the race due to a spin and a punctured tyre. However, we fought hard and achieved this fantastic place in the end. It is unfortunate that the BMW Z4 retired early when we were clearly in the lead in that class. Still, we demonstrated again, that you need to beat the Dörr Motorsport team if you want to win that category”.
Source : Dörr Motorsport