VLN: Yannick Mettler remains in the title race
HOT PHASE With two second places in the Endurance Championship Nürburgring, Yannick Mettler on BMW M4 GT4 preserved his title chance. Two other Swiss drivers were on the overall winners' podium at the eighth VLN round. At the seventh VLN race of 2018 on September 22, the Swiss drivers' results at the Nürburgring were modest. After a lengthy winning streak, Yannick Mettler had to [...]
At the seventh VLN race of 2018 on September 22, the Swiss drivers' results at the Nürburgring were modest. After a lengthy winning streak, Yannick Mettler and his German partner Heiko Eichenberg with Sorg Rennsport's BMW M4 GT4 had to admit defeat to Black Falcon's AMG-Mercedes GT4.
The Lucerne native had mixed feelings afterwards.
Yannick Mettler: "Of course, second place is also a great result. But it was sobering to realize that we lacked speed compared to the Mercedes. So far it's always been very even, but this time we had no chance to race for the win."
Philipp Hagnauer also came second in the V6 class on a Porsche Cayman S. All other Swiss drivers went home without a trophy.
At eye level again
If Mettler had some doubts about the overly good classification of the GT4 Mercedes, the two brands were once again on a par at the eighth race of the season on October 6. The reason was that the Mercedes had to add 15 kilograms for the BoP (Balance of Performance).
As the starting driver, the Swiss had the tricky task of not letting his championship rival, who had started from pole position, pull away. Mettler actually captured the class lead in the two-hour double stint.
Team-mate Eichenberg, however, had some bad luck with caution phases in the second half of the four-hour race, so that the BMW team lost time to the Mercedes. In the end, second place again emerged.
However, as the class consisted of only six cars this time, this meant a scratch result. In the overall VLN standings, Mettler and Eichenberg are in seventh position as drivers, but fourth as a team.
Showdown on October 20
Anything is still possible at the final race on October 20. Both the title - it would be the first for a Swiss driver - and second or third place overall.
Yannick Mettler: "The situation in the championship has once again come to a head. It's now so close between us and the Mercedes that it will come down to an extremely exciting showdown. We'll give everything to crown our already successful season with the title."
Three Swiss class winners
Three Swiss Porsche drivers left the field as class winners. Ivan Jacoma (Porsche Cayman GT4 CS) won with his partners in the Cup 3 class, Philipp Hagnauer on the Cayman S entered like Mettler's BMW by Sorg Rennsport in the V6 class (his first victory after second places), and Willi Hüppi on a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the SP7 class.
Gross, three Swiss A-licensed drivers made an appearance in the overall classification. Geneva's Edoardo Mortara finished second with Dutchman Renger van der Zande, just 3.6 seconds behind the overall winners. Mercedes thus celebrated a double victory with two of its GT3 teams.
The first big success in the VLN was achieved by Jonathan Hirschi. With Jordan Tresson (F) and Hunter Abbott, the driver from Neuchâtel finished third in the BMW M6 GT3 of Walkenhorst Motorsport (winner of the 24 Hours of Spa) with a gap of 2'44 minutes.
Simon Trummer was happy to finish seventh overall with the Germans Kaffer and Schramm in the Audi R8 LMS fielded by Car Collection Motorsport.
As the fourth Swiss, Willi Hüppi just made it into the top ten among the 142 teams that started and 102 that were classified. Already at the second VLN round of 2018 in April, four teams, each with a driver from Switzerland, finished in the top ten.
No luck for Kris Richard
The driver from Bern made his second Nürburgring start for Phoenix Racing in an Audi R8 LMS GT3. Oscar Tunjo, Max Hofer and Kris Richard sensationally put the car in second place on the grid. In the race, the trio retired after just five laps due to a collision while lapping.
