Very early into the 24hrs but the Volkswagen R-Line Golfs are killin it! If you care to watch online, check out the link. Live video feed
Outstanding start for the two Golfs fielded by Volkswagen Motorsport in the 24-Hour Race at the Nürburgring: After four hours, the two silver-coloured Golf vehicles sporting the “R-Line” livery of Volkswagen Individual GmbH recorded the dual lead in the class for cars with two-litre turbo engines.
In the field of the 220 touring cars that started to the race the Golf bearing number 111 driven by the Volkswagen juniors René Rast (Steyerberg) and Jimmy Johansson (Sweden) as well as by Florian Gruber (Aham) and Dieter Depping ((Wedemark) had established themselves on the outstanding 15th position overall, the “sister car” – number 101 – driven by Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Volkswagen Brand Board for the Development Division, “auto motor und sport” editor-in-chief Bernd Ostmann, Francois Verbist (Belgium) as well as Dieter Depping followed in 18th place.
The endurance classic in the Eifel region, staged on the 25.378-kilometre combination of the Grand Prix circuit and the legendary Nordschleife, could only be started with an almost two-hour delay at 4.51 p.m. Torrential rain caused the inevitable postponement of the start only a few moments before the field of contenders fitted with slicks was supposed to tackle the formation lap.
“Everything was perfect, only in the beginning extreme caution was necessary on the wet track that started drying later,” reported René Rast, who drove the start of the #111 Golf. After six laps he headed for the pitlane to switch to slicks, after 14 laps he turned the wheel over to Florian Gruber. “It was simply super, time went by in a flash,” said Gruber. “I thought I’d only driven six laps when in fact I’d already done nine.” Gruber turned over the car to Jimmy Johansson after nine laps.
The start of the #101 Golf was driven by Dieter Depping. “As a rally driver I love such difficult conditions. I would have enjoyed driving longer.” After seven laps Depping switched to slicks, after 15 laps he turned the wheel over to Francois Verbist. “Now I’m also a fan of the ‘Nordschleife’. That was great. And I was able to actually see the smoke from the barbecues in the cockpit,” said Verbist, who turned over the cockpit to Dr Ulrich Hackenberg.
“So far, everything’s been going very well. I’m really astonished that we’re running so far in front in the classification,” commented Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “But the race is still very young. I’m eager to see how things will continue for us during the night. In any event, it will be an unusually long Sunday as the race will only end at 4.51 p.m. The atmosphere around the whole venue couldn’t be better, this race is simply unique.”
Technorati Tags: VW, Volkswagen, GTI, Nurburgring, 24 Hours of Nurburgring, oneighturbo, 1.8T
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