One more time this year will the start lights be switched on and off, one more time this year will the works teams and the private teams fight about points in the ‘Green Hell’. The big final in the VLN endurance racing championship Nürburgring is on the calendar of the teams and drivers. In some categories, the decisions are already take but the situation in the VLN overall championship, the BMW M325i Racing Cup and the Opel Astra OPC Cup could hardly be more exciting. Considering that one score will be deleted, the gap between the two closest competitors is not more than 0.07 points. Four teams still have the chance to gain the winner’s award in the Astra OPC Cup and the BMW Racing Cup will be decided between to team with an identical score.
The leader in the VLN Championship before the 40th DMV Münsterlandpokal is single driver Stefan van Campenhoudt who has already gained the title in the production car classification. The Belgian could become the first international VLN Champion as the races was organised as a national series until 2015 and the title could thus only be gained by German drivers. Van Campenhoudt went into the lead for the first time after the last race when he crossed the finish line in second position in class V4 after having scored four wins in a row with his BMW 325i. Tim and Dirk Groneck took the chequered flag in identical position with their Renault Clio in class SP3. Their clean record, the brothers had won their class in each of the classified races in the year 2015, was marked by a first failure and they lost the lead in the table. Even though both teams scored the same results, can Campenhoudt could move ahead of the Clio drivers as he had more competitors in his class.
In the VLN, the number of cars in a class is of great significance in gaining points. The Belgian thus was allocated 8.64 points for his second V4 position which figured eleven cars on the 17th of October. The Gronecks, in class SP3, were fighting against seven competitors and got a score of only 8.13 points for their second place. An experience similar to the one of the Clio drivers had the third-placed team in the championship, Arne Hoffmeister and Fabian Wrabetz who finished fourth in the TMG GT86 Cup and thus also spoiled their previous clean record. The early winners of the Toyota Cup also had seven competitors in their class and gained only 5.63 points. Actually a bitter experience in the fight for the title.
The damage is however limited as one score remains to be deleted for each team for the final classification. For the two Cup winners and for the Gronecks, the ninth VLN race ended with the so far lowest number of points of the season, so this result will be deleted when establishing the overall classification. Van Campenhoudts score to delete refers to the third classified race in which he had gained only 8.13 points. Before the final race on 31st October, van Campenhoudt with 65.75 points ahead of the Gronecks with 65.68 points and followed by Hoffmeister/Wrabetz with 64.50 points has the best chances to gain the championship, also considering that he has normally the greater number of cars in his class.
On the average, class V4 had ten starters, class SP3 figured eight cars and the TMG Cup comprised seven cars. If you assume that the numbers of cars in all of the three classes will comply with this average, the Toyota crew would be out of the game. Even if both of their competitors retired and they gained the maximum points of 9.39, they would not be able to go into the lead due to the amendments in the leading group after deletion of one score each. Wrabetz/ Hoffmeister would secure the championship only if at least nine cars started in the Cup, if they won and their main rivals in the fight for the title did not gain any points.
The following conditions must be fulfilled for the Gronecks to successfully fight for the title: They must have a minimum score of 8.2 points, which would only be possible with a victory in the field of eight participants, should nine cars start in their class, a second place would be sufficient; a third place would only help if they had at least 15 participants in their class. The Clio drivers would furthermore have to finish at least one position ahead of van Campenhoudt in class V4. In any other case, the Belgian will become VLN Champion.
The overall calculations in the Opel Astra OPC Cup are a little easier. They have no scores to be deleted and the number of participants is likewise irrelevant. The maximum of 32 points will be awarded at the final, one for pole-position, one for the fastest lap in the race and 30 for the class win. Although Juha Hannonen, Jari Nuoramo and Daniel Bohr have so far not been able yet to score a class win, they are in the lead of the classification with 165 points due to a number of results on the podium. Before the final race, the driver trio has an advance of nine points ahead of their closest rivals Hannu Luostarinen, Heinz-Otto and Jürgen Fritzsche (157 points). In terms of figures, Marcel Senn and Jasmin Preising (140 points) as well as Willy Hüppi and Alex Schula (133 points) also still have chances. Hüppi/ Schula, however, would only be the Cup winners if they took pole position, completed the fastest race lap and gained first place and all their rivals would score zero points at the final. In this case, they would catch up with the leading trio and win the Cup classification due to their greater number of race wins.
The fight in the BMW M235i Racing Cup, too, is very close. With their fourth victory of the season, Michele Di Martino and Moritz Oberheim secured the VLN Junior Trophy (for drivers up to 25 years) at the last race and caught up with Ralf Schall and Mario Merten in the Cup classification. This represents an excellent performance for Oberheim considering that the only 18-years-old has his first season at the Nordschleife and will definitely have to keep cool in the final. The battle between the two teams will be decided in a direct duel at the Nordschleife on 31st October.
