25.07.12 Good result goes up in smoke

The 35th Grenzlandrennen, round 6 of the VLN endurance championship on the Nürburgring, had an unrewarding end for Wolfgang Kaufmann, his team mate Florian Fricke, and Porsche Kremer Racing.

Timed practice, again, took place in typical Eifel weather. “Conditions changed in some instances from one corner to the next, varying between dry and wet track segments”, Wolfgang Kaufmann describes what this year have almost become normal track conditions.

The duo started its practice session on slicks and changed to wets for its assault on the top starting positions when the fifth and sixth gear abruptly refused to co-operate. “The gearbox countershaft broke, which is something that practically never happens. We need to investigate whether it happened due to a manufacturing quality problem or for another reason. Luckily, it happened while I was still on the Grand Prix course, this way I was able to come back to the pits”, says Kaufmann. With the track then drying up, the result was grid position no. 59 for the Porsche 997 GT3 KR.

Until the start of the race, the highly motivated Kremer Racing mechanics ran a race against time returning the Porsche to perfect condition. “In the race, everything once again worked perfectly. The self-developed Kremer Porsche 997 KR and our Yokohama tyres gave us the opportunity to move up toward the top of the field again”, Kaufmann comments on the mechanics' performance. At the end of the initial stint, he turned the Porsche over to his colleague Florian Fricke in 10th position overall. The bitter end came just two laps from the finish when Kaufmann spotted flames in his right rear view mirror. “At the Schwedenkreuz section, I saw the fire in my mirror but noticed no effect on the car yet. As the flames became more apparent, I had to park the Porsche at the marshals' post at Metzgesfeld.” At this point, the Kremer Racing Porsche held a clear lead in the SP7 class and had already made up 53 places in the overall classification to run in 6th place. Kremer's bad luck handed another Porsche team the class win just before the end of the race.

On the Friday before the race on the Nürburgring, Wolfgang Kaufmann drove a Ford Escort RS 1600 in the Youngtimer Trophy at Spa-Francorchamps. “But our day ended quickly. In the first timed practice, we had an engine problem and unfortunately had no chance to properly prepare the MK.I Escort for the race.”

The next round of the VLN endurance championship, the 6 hour race, takes place on August 4, directly followed by the 40th AvD Oldtimer Grand Prix weekend, the highlight of the classic car scene, again with Porsche Kremer Racing on the Nürburgring.