29.04.13 At last the season has started

The 2013 season of the Nürburgring endurance championship finally got under way last weekend, following the cancellation of the initial season opener in late March due to snow.

#77 Kremer Porsche 997 KR

Wolfgang Kaufmann again races for the Cologne's very own Kremer Racing Team this year, with a Porsche 997 GT3 KR. The famed Porsche team has made many detail modifications to the 997 GT3 KR over the winter. Kaufmann's team mates in the first VLN round of the season, the DMW 4h Rennen, were Dieter Schornstein and Peter Posavac.

However, the silencer undid any qualifying strategy the team had. Peter Posavac und Dieter Schornstein did their practice laps during the first hour on wet weather tyres; Kaufmann was due to qualify the car on a drying track, with slicks. But even though the silencer on the car had already been in use on the Nordschleife throughout 2012, the 997 GT3 KR was deemed excessively loud and had to be modified over the remaining practice time.

At the start of the 4hr race, Kaufmann did a scheduled double stint. Four laps into the event, the first planned pit stop for refuelling was on the agenda, then Kaufmann headed out for another eight laps around the legendary Nordschleife.

He moved the Porsche up through the ranks to 3rd position in the SP7 class, and handed the controls to Dieter Schornstein. Peter Posavac took over for final turn; following a “Code 60” yellow flag area, the #77 Kremer Porsche was overlooked by a BMW during an overtaking manoeuvre. The cars collided, and for the Porsche the race was over.

After the race, Kaufmann was unhappy with the new rule which is supposed to create more safety on the track: “The 60kph limit under double yellow flags, which have been introduced for 2013, generally applies for all runners; but it brings with it great risk if after the green flag, cars with different performance start overtaking on the Nordschleife, which is not all that wide. Especially if the a group of cars has bunched together, the scene resembles that of a race start. Everyone involved needs to work on a solution to this problem, in the interest of safety.”

The next competitive outings for Wolfgang Kaufmann will be on April 26 in the Nürburgring endurance championship, with the Porsche Kremer 997 KR, and on April 27 in the Youngtimer Trophy at Hockenheim, with the CASTROL Ford RS 1600.