27.04.15 Pole position and class podium for Wolfgang Kaufmann

The start of the Youngtimer Trophy brought success for the racing pro from Westerwald.

Together with Scuderia M66 and car owner Dieter Dörmann, Wolfgang Kaufmann once again forms a successful team in the Youngtimer Trophy. At the Motordrom in Hockenheim, they started their 2015 season with the Ford Escort RS1600. In qualifying, Kaufmann was the only driver to lap the 4.6 kilometer course in under 2 minutes, and thus put the early-1970s touring car classic on the pole position for the race.

His team mate Dörmann took the start to the 1 hour race; the gentleman driver initially held the field's pace well, until he dropped down the order following a spin and some loss of time in the gravel bed. What seemed to be a major setback for the duo that has become so accustomed to success in recent years, proved to be additional motivation for “Fighter” Kaufmann who, while waiting for the driver change, still had hopes of making up for lost ground: “As the professional driver on the team, I am only allowed to drive for 40% of the total race duration”, he said. This time, it was 24 minutes of attack instead of 24 hours of survival for the experienced endurance driver from Molsberg.

During his stint, Kaufmann grabbed the Escort BDA by the scruff of the neck and rung extra performance out of it. First, he managed to get back the lap the team had fallen behind at this point, then he worked his way through almost the entire field. In spite of dealing with lapped traffic on top of it all, he nearly managed to match his fastest qualifying lap time! In the end, the overall podium places were out of reach; but 4th place overall in the 42 car field, and 2nd position in his class are certainly a respectable result.

This coming weekend, Wolfgang Kaufmann is headed for the legendary Nordschleife again. On the Nürburgring, he will share a Group H Porsche 996 GT3 R with Ralf Weiner in the German Endurance Championship. “I am familiar with this car”, Kaufmann is looking forward to the assignment, “Ralf had been suggesting that we drive together again. With the Porsche Kremer Racing Team not taking part in this second VLN round due to their prep work for the 24 Hours, I was able join Ralf this time. The car is very well prepared, and it should be a fun day out! Group H is less restricted than the cars I am usually drive, so there is no minimum time for the pit stop, no restrictor to reduce engine performance, and we can use a big tank.”