VLN: Frédéric Yerly doubles up
SECOND TCR WIN With his second TCR season win, Frédéric Yerly was the most successful Swiss in the VLN at the Nürburgring. Yannick Mettler and Jasmin Preisig were also convincing. This time it was not snow that had led to the cancellation of the second VLN round two weeks ago, but the changeable weather that affected the action on the Nordschleife already in practice. [...]
This time, it wasn't snow that had led to the cancellation of the second VLN round two weeks ago, but the changeable weather that affected the action on the Nordschleife even in practice. Heavy rain at times made the four-hour race a slippery affair and a strategic challenge when it came to tire selection.
Victory and TCR championship lead for Fred Yerly
Once again, mathilda racing did everything right, with Frédéric Yerly taking turns at the wheel of a Cupra TCR this year with the Germans Heiko Hammel and Matthias Wasel. The weather naturally suited the front-wheel-drive TCR car, but the drivers have to know how to exploit its potential.
After Hammel had driven the car in his starting turn as the clear TCR leader to 17th overall position among the GT cars (P26 at the end), Yerly and Wasel also did a flawless job after him. And so, for the second time since the opening race in March, they were celebrated as deserved class winners and championship leaders.
Solo wins for Octane126 and Hofor Racing
Otherwise there were still two Swiss victories by soloists in their classes. Simon Trummer, Jonathan Hirschi and Björn Grossmann had put Octane126's Ferrari 488, which is classified in the SPX class (in this way, parts that are not yet GT3 homologated can be tested), on fifth place on the grid. After a difficult race in terms of tires, the trio finished 17th overall over the full distance. The brothers Martin and Michael Kroll and Michael's son-in-law Alexander Prinz won the H4 class in the BMW M3 GTR solo.
Another podium for Mettler
Last year's VLN GT4 champion Yannick Mettler made his first appearance in the 2019 VLN and continued his series of podium finishes on debut with a Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT4. After good preparatory work by his teammates Stefan Rösler and Mike Stursberg in increasingly difficult conditions, the Lucerne native brought the sports car safely to the finish line in second place in the SP8T class.
Yannick Mettler: "With the extreme weather conditions, there were some hairy situations to get through, so you always had to keep a cool head. In some phases it was extremely demanding, but it was also huge fun. Especially when the track was drying out, I was able to really make up ground on the first-place finisher towards the end, but the gap was too big for it to have been enough for victory."
Third places for Amweg and Schmid
Manuel Amweg and Roland Schmid were also able to take home nice trophies. With two German teammates, he brought Leutheuser Racing's BMW M4 home in second place in the SP10 class of FIA-homologated GT4 cars. Roland Schmid (from Reinach BL) started with two Turks in the V4 class populated by 23 BMW 325i and achieved an excellent third place.
Jasmin Preisig gets faster and faster
After Jasmin Preisig had managed a lap time under nine minutes for the first time in free practice for the cancelled VLN2 race, she put the VW Golf GTI TCR of Girls Only/WS Racing on the best grid position in the SP3T class in qualifying. Because the GPS did not work in the race, the women's team had to make a time-consuming pit stop, which resulted in only fifth place in SP3T for Jasmin Preisig and Ronja Assmann.
Nevertheless, the Appenzeller was satisfied.
Jasmin Preisig: "The important thing was that everything worked and we were able to gain experience under difficult conditions and bring the car to the finish line in one piece. Now we're looking forward to the qualifying race and then the Nürburgring 24 Hours, where anything is possible."
Return of Metzger and Fässler
Overall victory went to Manthey Racing with Richard Lietz (A) and Nick Tandy (GB) in a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Swiss-by-choice Manuel Metzger finished third overall in his first race this year together with German compatriot Dirk Müller, who also lives in Thurgau, in the fastest Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by Black Falcon.
In preparation for the marathon in June, Marcel Fässler also competed in the VLN for the first time this season. With DTM driver Jamie Green, the man from Schwyz finished eleventh overall and in the GT3 king class SP9-Pro in the best-placed Audi R8 (from Phoenix Racing).
