The final round of the VLN Series takes place at the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife this weekend and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus will once again field two SCG003Cs. The VLN Series is a 10-round championship for exotic and thoroughbred cars, with each round taking place at the famed Nurburgring in Germany.
Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is spending this year turning the SCG003C into the ultimate road-going racing car. With most road car manufacturers honing their machines on the Nurburgring, racing at the venue makes perfect sense. The team is also building up its experience ahead of next year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours.
At the previous round of the championship, which also took place at the Nurburgring, the Italian-based American team finished 10th overall despite limited testing. The target this weekend is to score an even better result. The first car, macchinauno, will be crewed by Manuel Lauck of Germany, Franck Mailleux of France and Jeroen Bleekemolen of the Netherlands.
Bleekemolen will race with SCG for the first time. He has a great deal of experience from a variety of categories, including two seasons in the DTM in 2003 and 2004. That led to nine years in the Porsche Supercup, where he won the title twice. He has raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours 10 times.
The Dutchman commented: “I have followed the progress of the car from the beginning. It looks amazing and I even visited the factory when the cars were still being built. I’m really excited to have my first run in the car and very curious to see how it drives. From racing against the SCG003C in the past I know that a lot of fans at the Nordschleife love this team, so it’s great to join a fan favourite!
The second machine, macchinadue, will have German drivers Thomas Mutsch and Christian Menzel at the wheel, plus American ace Jeff Westphal. Mutsch and Westphal were 10th last time out, when they were joined by motoring journalist Jethro Bovingdon.
Menzel is new to SCG, and like Bleekemolen he has extensive DTM and Porsche Supercup experience. He’s also a former winner of the Nurburgring 24 Hours, triumphing in 1998 in a BMW 320 diesel with Hans-Joachim Stuck and Marc Duez.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said Menzel. “I totally admire the vision of Jim and his team: who else would go out there and build a car without an existing manufacturer? I know the Nurburgring well as I only live eight minutes away. Hopefully I can help to improve the car but first I need a few laps to dial myself into it and understand how it works on the track. I may know the Nurburgring well, but I have never lost respect for it.”
The team will begin the weekend with a test on the shorter Grand Prix track on the morning of Friday October 30th, and will move on to the full 25-kilometre Nordschleife for two hours in the afternoon. The competitive action fits into a single day, with qualifying from 08:30-10.00 on Saturday October 31st and the four-hour race starting at 12:00.
Team owner and brand creator James Glickenhaus said: “After the stunning result last time out, we can’t wait to go racing again with two new and very distinguished drivers. We believe the car is really coming on now; it’s very well sorted and highly competitive at the Nurburgring. This all bodes well for next year’s 24-hour race. As our preparations continue this weekend, we know the overall performance is getting better and better, so we can only aim at a top result. It will be important to get some solid running in on Friday so that we’re are ready to hit the ground running in qualifying and we’re obviously hoping that the weather doesn’t get in the way of that: always a factor to consider at this time of year in northern Germany. But it should be another great weekend.”