“You can win the championship in class V5”, was the statement of Guido Wirtz (Cologne), alias Bugs Bunny, before the start of the BFGoodrich Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring 2009. The team started the race in their newly prepared BMW Z4 with an accordingly high motivation – and won. Wirtz, together with his team mates Andreas Weiland (Bad Vilbel) and Frank Bowkowsky (Mönchengladbach), finished more than two minutes ahead of a true armada of Z4 and M3 race cars.
The quick team in the vivid green Z4 started the race weekend already with a brilliant qualifying and gained the first pole position of the season with a lap time of 9:38.345 minutes. “The car is really fantastic and the team of Dieselspeed is doing a great job”, informs Wirtz and pays the team which is in charge of the car a compliment. Before any doubts may arise: Despite the support of Dieselspeed, the Z4 runs on normal fuel.
At the start of the race it was very important to push and attack immediately. There was a hard battle behind the leading BMW of Guido Wirtz and Co. after the start light and before the entrance to the first corner. Five cars were side by side in the approach of the sharp turn at the Mercedes Arena. One BMW spun, went off and was in danger to crash into the track barriers but in a spectacular action the driver made it to get the car back onto the road. Frank Borkowsky was able to observe this action calmly in his mirror whilst braking and turning around the corner.
The race driver from Mönchengladbach benefited from the wild fights behind him and extended his lead bit by bit. At the first pit stop at the end of lap eight, the team was already leading with an advance of almost one minute. The classification was turned upside down due to refuelling and tyre changes but after all the cars had come to their pit stops, the Z4 of Bugs Bunny was back again in the lead.
The situation was similar at the two subsequent stops. The only incertitude in the team was the question about the fuel consumption. With the number of 27 race laps which became obvious after one hour already there was a risk that the car could run out of fuel towards the end of the race. “We can do 8 laps without any problems, but that makes 24 laps in total and the formation lap must be added”, explained Guido Wirtz who was a little worried, in particular when two Z4 came to the pits for a so-called splash and dash just before the race end.
And the worries were well justified. Although the green Z4 came first out of the Hohenrein chicane onto the Line and saw the chequered flag as class winner, the car already suffered engine misfirings due to a lack of fuel. With the 13 participants in class V5, Bugs Bunny, Andreas Weiland and Frank Borkowsky however scored 9.62 points and gained the first championship lead of the season. “We wish to keep this position until the end of the year and win the championship”, said Wirtz. He and his team will have another opportunity to gain points on their way to the title on 18th April.
