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Drexler Motorsport pulled off a brilliant victory in the Opel Astra OPC Cup in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (14-17 May 2015). The team ended up with a class victory and a superb 31st place overall!
“Congratulations to the whole team - that was a fantastic performance” said Herbert Drexler, who first made the team’s entry into the sport possible. The 24-hour race is also an important step forward for Drexler Motorsport in the further development of their in-house products. “We were once again able to gain new knowledge, which brings greater security and stability” added Drexler. In the Opel Astra OPC Cup, all car parts are fully transferable from racing cars to road vehicles.
The success was made possible by a speedy quartet. The double father-son team of Strycek/Oestreich was made up of both experience and talent. On the one side the old hands Volker Strycek and Markus Oestreich, who had both won the Nürburgring 24-hour race before, and on the other side their sons Robin Strycek (Dehrn/Hessen) and Moritz Oestreich (Petersberg/Hessen).
As early as the two qualifying sessions on the 25.378km track, the team had the fastest car in the Cup 1 class - since Moritz Oestreich had set the fastest time, the team went into the race starting in pole position.
Right from the outset it was a highly competitive race in front of the more than 200,000 fans on the Nordschleife. The conditions changed time and time again, typically for the Eifel area. Alongside dry periods, the heavens would open from time to time and in the early hours of the morning the temperature plummeted to barely 4 degrees Celsius. The Drexler drivers did not let themselves be affected by this and were always in a top position in the Cup 1 class. Twice an hour over the course of the race the Opel Astra OPC Cup, with the race number 250, progressed ever further towards the top of the overall classification and eventually finished in a sensational 31st place, with the fastest lap of the category posted by Moritz Oestreich.
During the race there were two scary moments. When Moritz Oestreich was preparing to start the race from the grid, he reported that the car was lacking power. However the source of the problem was quickly found and resolved without difficulty thanks to the experience of Team Schirmer. Then, in the early evening, Volker Strycek reported that he had run out of fuel and stopped on the “Döttinger Höhe”. Although all three drivers before him had managed 8 laps with a full tank, the Head of Opel Motorsport could not make it back to the pits. The President of AvD Sport and former touring car driver knew how to make do, however, and found a jerry can and some fuel. Thus he made it back to the pits having lost 12 minutes, and the team switched to seven-lap stints. From then on it went like clockwork all the way to the finishing line...
Post-race opinions:
Herbert Drexler: “The whole team was extremely professional. We had no technical problems whatsoever over the whole distance. At night and in the rain the boys even sometimes drove at the same pace as the top 30 cars. I’d secretly been hoping that we would bring home a category victory, but finishing in 31st place in the middle of the many Porsches and works cars was certainly impressive. We were able to make a lot of new discoveries for Drexler Motorsport and the car crossed the finish line almost without a scratch. I’m proud of the whole team - they pulled it off very smartly.”
Team Boss Tom Schirmer: “That was a great race. My compliments to the drivers and the whole team on a fantastic achievement. We coped quickly with the electronic problem at the beginning and got a bit lucky with the empty tank – but that comes with the territory. Our goal was to be on pole position and to win the category. That we were able to finish 31st overall to boot is obviously fantastic. During the night we took double turns behind the wheel and went on the attack in order to make up ground on the frontrunners. On one lap in the morning Moritz even slashed his qualifying time. We came through under our own steam and won by a large margin. Well done to the drivers too on managing to avoid any penalties!”
Markus Oestreich: “Firstly the car was perfectly prepared by Team Schirmer. The pit-stops were great - we only lost a little bit of time during refuelling because the fuel pumps were different. During the race itself we had a nice battle with the Lubner-Astra. In the end we were able to pull ahead. Our 31st-place finish more than met our objectives of a Top 50 position. By all means we ought to be proud of the youngster – he mastered the difficult conditions with a lot of routine work and made some very good decisions.”
Moritz Oestreich: “That was a great experience and a fantastic ending to a long race. I’d like to thank Herbert Drexler, who enabled us to do this, and the whole of Team Schirmer. There were no problems at all and the Drexler car ran like clockwork. The car was great fun and I got along with it very well. It didn’t matter to me whether I drove during the day, at night or in the morning. It was a bit quieter at night, though, which gave us the chance to make up a bit of time, since I had the feeling that drivers of the bigger cars were slower.”
Robin Strycek: “It was very emotional! At the beginning, when it looked like the car wouldn’t run, the suspense shot up from 100 to 200%. But when we eventually set off and everything was working, the relief was huge and I could fully concentrate on committing to the Opel Astra OPC Cup. You always hope to go home with a result like this, but when everything goes smoothly and you’re with great friends and your family, it’s simply awesome.”
Photo: Ottmar Arenz