It was not just the works teams of Audi and Porsche that ran into trouble at Germany’s biggest race meeting, the 24 hrs of the Nürburgring. Wolfgang Kaufmann also had to call it a race early on, while in a competitive position.

 
Team Vulkan Racing-Mintgen Motorsport brought a perfectly prepared Dodge Viper to the race, all potentially vulnerable components were swapped for brand new parts beforehand in order to reach the team’s goal of a Top 10 place overall. In the SP9 GT3 category, the Viper was up against the factory teams of Porsche and Audi. “Our goal clearly was a Top 10 finish, and the podium in our class. We had a very well balanced crew of drivers, and a proven endurance car in the Viper”, Kaufmann sums up the team’s aspirations.

 
In the practice sessions, unnecessary strain on the car was avoided with as few laps as possible. The drivers Dirk Riebensahm, Christian Kohlhaas, Christopher Brück and Wolfgang Kaufmann all are experts on the Nordschleife, and well versed at the world’s most renowned circuit.

 
In spite of this conservative approach to qualifying, they achieved their goal of a Top 20 place on the grid, with position 16. “Race control gives the twenty fastest qualifiers a blue flashlight as a signal for slower traffic that there is a faster Top 20 car approaching and wants to pass. With the kind of traffic you get from about 200 cars out on the Nordschleife, this is a great help”, Kaufmann explains the team’s unusual aspirations for their qualifying result.

 
Dirk Riebensahm started the race fort he team, and even at the start was hit by an Audi R8. At the first routine stop, the Viper’s front left quarter was brought back in shape with large amounts of race tape. Kaufmann took the car over from Riebensahm, and after a trouble free stint handed the car over to Christian Kohlhaas. Tyre damage brought something of a setback: The broken tyre was a nuisance, but the time we lost would not have kept us from reaching the Top 10.

 
The end of the Viper’s race came in the fifth hour when Riebensahm noticed problems with the front suspension going through the Caracciola Karussell. He brought the car back to the pits at reduced pace, and the mechanics found a problem they had previously not seen on the car: One of the welded mounting points for the lower wishbone on the chassis had broken. The team started repairs but when the extent of the damage was clears, they decided against continuing.

 
“We would have had to work for several hours to get the car back in shape fort he Nordschleife. And a certain amount of risk would have remained because we still don’t know the actual cause for this defect. We really had a good chance of reaching the goals we had set for ourselves so this early end is depressing”, Kaufmann sums up the team’s mood at that point.

Source : Wolfgang Kaufmann