Marc VDS’ two Z4 GT3s finished fifth and sixth in a four hour VLN enduro on the Nordschleife at the Nürburbring. It was the team’s final race on the circuit in advance of the Nürburbring 24-hour race in May.
Lucas Luhr, Maxime Martin, Markus Palttala, and Richard Westbrook finished fifth in the #25 Z4, while Dirk Adorf, Augusto Farfus, and Jörg Müller finished sixth in car #26.
The cars moved up substantially from their qualifying positions in the predominantly wet race; the #26 car started 26th on the grid after it was caught in the rain in qualifying, and #25 started from the back of the pack because of a puncture in qualifying.
American racer John Edwards, Lucas Luhr’s teammate with BMW Team RLL in the Tudor Series in the US, shared a Team Walkenhorst Z4 GT3 at the Ring with Michela Cerruti and Felipe Fernándes Laser. The trio was running in sixth until a technical problem forced them to retire the car just a few laps from the end of the race. A second Walkenhorst Z4 exited the race after it was caught in a crash.
Lucas Luhr said afterward, “I was really unlucky in qualifying. Shortly after the entrance to the Nordschleife I suffered a puncture, and then had to haul the car the full 20 kilometers back to the pit lane. However, the fightback in the race was great fun. The result wasn’t too important today. With one eye on the 24-hour race, we wanted to test some strategic options. The most important thing today was to gain experience for what is one of the highlights of the endurance season. I think we have a strong package.”
The overall win went to Christopher Mies and Nico Müller in an Audi R8 LMS.—Brian S. Morgan
