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- All change at the top of the Opel Astra OPC Cup table
- Fritzsche/Fritzsche/Luostarinen win in the heat at the Ring
- Second place on the podium for Juniors Robin Strycek/Moritz Oestreich
Nürburgring. The high summer temperatures turned the fourth race of the Opel Astra OPC Cup within the framework of the VLN long distance championships at the Nürburgring into a very heated battle. In temperatures of over 30 degrees, titleholders Heinz-Otto and Jürgen Fritzsche (Hückeswagen), as well as their Finnish team colleague Hannu Luostarinen, kept the coolest heads and strove to victory in the hard fought Opel brand cup. With their second success of the season, the trio in the Astra from Ti-Tarvike Racing with start number 353, also recaptured the lead in the overall ranking. Daniel Bohr, Jari Nuoramo and Juha Hannonen of Lubner Motorsport crossed the finish line after four hours. The podium was completed by Robin Strycek and Moritz Oestreich. For the sons of ex-DTM pilots Volker Strycek and Markus Oestreich, who started from pole position, it was the second podium placing in the Opel Astra OPC cup.
Not unexpected was the Fritzsche twins’ victory: "We're always good in weather like this“, said the 59 year-old self-confidently. "To win in these extreme conditions one ought not to drive aggressively. One must spare the tyres and keep an eye on the temperatures in order to win in the end.“ In the end, the trio is top after four of the ten Cup races. With 71 points the old hands are looking good at the top of the rankings.
Lubner Motorsport had reason to both laugh and cry: In the Cup-Astra, Nuoramo, Hannonen and Bohr in start number 345 managed second place for the second time in a row. "It's about time we had a win“, said Bohr, targeting the last six races of the season to achieve the feat. "We can't afford to have any more trouble after the mess-up in the second race when we were blameless victims of a collision.“ Lubner team-mates Robert Schröder, Marcel Hartl and Roger Vögeli failed to cross the line at all, even though they've been league leaders up until now, and winners of the last race too.
Third-placed Robin Strycek was marked by the strain after the race. "The podium place we won was won with hard work. It was unbelievably hot, so hot that I even had to shorten my first lap because I was simply no longer able to compete. This riles me. However, all-in-all we can be content with the result.“ Also not really happy was team partner Moritz Oestreich: "After the pole position in the time trials I had hoped for a little bit better than third“, admitted the 23-year-old.
Like riding a bike in the sauna
The summer heat severely tested both driver and vehicle in the fourth VLN race: With outside temperatures of over 30° and asphalt temperatures over 50° centigrade, temperatures in the cockpits climbed to over 60°. "This is like riding a bicycle in the sauna. There is only one rule – drink as much as possible before each stint“, said Ben Harper, who shares the cockpit of start number 340 with Elmar Jurek. In addition, Harper wears a cooling vest under his racing overalls to regulate his body temperature. Whether is there a patent recipe? "With the weather it depends totally on being fit healthwise. Those who try but have to surrender to the elements are simply not sufficiently prepared, but giving up in those conditions is the correct thing to do. One has to know ones' own limits.“ However, it was not only the championship pilots who managed to master the difficulties in the Eifel. The 320-HP machine racers stood tall in the face of the enormous challenge posed by the high temperatures. "The cup vehicles were more challenged than under normal conditions. The teams had to keep an eye on the tyres and the water temperatures, above all “, said Stefan Kissling, head of the Opel Astra OPC Cup.
The protagonists can take a deep breath before the next race. In just four weeks, the 47th ADAC Barbarossapreis, the fifth of ten races in the season, is to be run on the 1st of August 2015.