Jochen Übler 24h race on the Nürburgring
14.05.2012
Just under a week, then the countdown to the 24h race is finally over.
A n Thursday, May 17th, the pack of around 180 cars in the largest car race will turn off for the first free practice session on the legendary Nordschleife of the Nürburgring.
The factory-supported Teams from Audi and BMW are slowly but surely dropping their covers and showing their true performance. Or do the Mercedes SLS AMGs set the pace? Although the massive gullwing officially competed among the applications from private teams, HWA, the racing subsidiary of Mercedes, will not leave anything to chance behind the scenes.
Strong competition at the start
The two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs used by Ring-Fuchs Olaf Manthey's team should not be underestimated either, as there are well-known drivers from the official Porsche squad behind the wheel.
And then there are a few secret favorites who can also have a say about good starting positions or even a place on the podium. This includes the Audi R8 LMS Ultra from Raeder Motorsport, with its top drivers, as well as the Corvette entering the race in Haribo livery, which also competes with well-known professionals.
And right in the middle of the phalanx of potent GT3 racers can also be found in auto motor und sport. Test boss Jochen Übler will drive one of the two McLaren MP4-12C GT3s at Dörr-Motorsport. The ostensible and perhaps a bit deeply stacked goal: to arrive. Behind closed doors you whisper about a place in the top 10. But the British flounder is still brand new and has only been able to unwind a few kilometers of racing. Compared to the strong competition that has already had several test laps under its belt, there is a lot of racing kilometers that are so immensely important for the experience in the run-up to the 24-hour chase.
Cars optimally prepared
' We are still in good spirits, the atmosphere in the team is great, 'beamed team boss Rainer Dörr. And team manager Uwe Isert adds: 'The cars are well prepared on our part, at the moment we are only at the finish. Pirelli baked us some slightly modified tires again, and we can start.'
The Classification of the McLaren on the part of the organizer is also completed so far. in theBoP, the Balance of Performance, is intended to bring the GT3 horde to an optimal, common level of performance in the sense of a balancing justice in view of the different vehicle concepts. Accordingly, the McLaren enter the race with a weight of 1,350 kilograms and a tank volume of 125 liters. The standard 600 hp twin-turbo V8 snorkelers only through 35 millimeter air flow restrictors.
But the carbon fiber flounder shouldn't lack performance. How does the carbon fiber flounder actually push? Since the first approach to the future work device was limited to a seat sample, unfortunately nothing can be said about it.
But I can only say one thing: Fortunately, the fitness training will soon come to an end, and then it will the start number 69 between Hatzenbach and Döttinger Höhe really felt.
