16.10.14 A time of endurance for Wolfgang Kaufmann

Three races within only two weeks were on the schedule for Molsberg's motor racing professional Wolfgang Kaufmann.

It all began with a round of Classic Endurance Racing (CER), a historic racing series, at Le Castellet in the South of France. His weapon of choice was a race early-1950s Jaguar XK120 with disk brakes, one of the oldest cars in the field. Unfortunately the race was over after only one hour due to ignition trouble.

The true test came only after the race: CER ran ist race on Saturday, and Kaufmann had to get behind the wheel of a Ford Escort Mk.I BDA at the Youngtimer race on the Nürburgring, about 1000k away, on Sunday! A long night drive took him up North where he had to realise that the Eifel was covered in dense fog – the race was cancelled, the long journey turned out to be invane.

A few short days later, Wolfgang Kaufmann returned to the Nürburgring to rejoin his team Kremer Racing and drive the Porsche 997 KR in the 9th round of the VLN championship. On Friday, the team sought to remedy some massive handling issues with the car. The crew worked hard into the night hours and even changed the gearbox in order to find a solution – and with success!

Qualifying saw Kaufmann put the Kremer Porsche on grid position 2 of the SP7 class, and he pulled another ace out of his sleeve: “Michelin has given us a new tyre construction”, he says, “I immediately liked it when I tried it in qualifying, so we used the new tyre in the race as well. Our 997 KR worked tremendously well, the boys at Porsche Kremer Racing and at our tyre partner Michelin really did a great job today.”

Kaufmann drove the opening stint of the 4 hour race, and initially was wise enough to keep well out of trouble. “There was a lot going on around me, with some very inconsiderate driving. Throughout my first stint, several crashes caused yellow flags, or even double waved yellows, on many occasions”, he says. His smart driving was to pay off when he returned the car to the pits in the lead. Kaufmann stayed behind the wheel for a second stint in the 997 KR; he was able to defend the class lead until the undertray came loose on the Döttinger Höhe straight, one lap before the planned pit stop.

The necessary repairs set the trio Kaufmann / Baunach / Schiewitz back a long way, and again denied them the long overdue, and much deserved, class win. Both his team mates were able to drive a couple of laps, but P8 in class was the highest they would get. “On a few occasions, we have been able to show that we belong at the top in SP7”, Kaufmann concluded, “but sadly we were always set back when we were in the lead.”

Even if Wolfgang Kaufmann has covered more than 4500 kilometers in his pursuit of motor racing, there is still no time for respite. Another race in CER with the Jaguar XK120 beckons this coming weekend, at Portimao on the Algarve coast of Portugal.