VLN: Yannick Mettler on the wave of success
FOURTH WIN OF THE SEASON Yannick Mettler and his German partner took two more victories in the GT4 class at rounds 5 and 6 of the VLN Nürburgring. They moved up to second place in the championship. Alexandre Imperatori claimed two places on the overall winner's podium. On August 18, the 6-hour race was the highlight of the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring. [...]
On August 18, the 6-hour race was the highlight of the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring. Two weeks later, on September 1, the sixth VLN race again covered the usual four-hour distance.
No matter how long such a race on the legendary Nordschleife lasts - Yannick Mettler and his German partner Heiko Eichenberg practically only finish it in first place in their class. Because they also won the biggest trophy at the 24 Hours in May.
In the 6-hour race, the duo took the lead early on with the BMW M4 GT4 from Sorg Rennsport, which they successfully defended to the finish.
From the very back to the very front
Two weeks later, Mettler suddenly found himself in last place in the GT4 class after a turbulent starting lap in which competitors hindered him.
Yannick Mettler: "I knew that there was nothing left to lose at this point and put all my eggs in one basket. Compared to the last few races, we could no longer tactic, but had to mobilize all our strength and attack from the start."
Within three laps, the driver from Lucerne had closed the gap to the leader. By the time the drivers changed, the team was back in second place, and then even in the lead. In the end, the BMW M4 took a quadruple victory.
Yannick Mettler: "Thanks to a first-class pit stop, we then immediately took the lead, which we extended to the finish. We saw once again that, regardless of the starting position, it's always worth fighting and never giving up. A great success for our whole team."
With their fourth win of the season, the duo moved up to second place in the 2018 VLN. The cross-class table currently comprises 758 names and positions. No Swiss driver has ever won this title in the endurance series, which has been held since 1977.
Two overall podium finishes for Alexandre Imperatori
Two big winners from Switzerland were Alexandre Imperatori. The Fribourg native, who is based in Shanghai and races under a Chinese license, finished third overall in the 6-hour race with Dutchman Stef Dusseldorp in the Falken Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.
In last Saturday's race, the duo were only beaten by their Falken teammates Klaus Bachler and Martin Ragginger in a Porsche 911 GT3 R.
In the race, Bachler set a new absolute lap record of 7'56.259 (184.1 km/h) for the 24.358 km long version of the Nürburgring, consisting of the sprint track with Mercedes Arena, motorcycle chicane and Nordschleife.
