Top 20 finish and two podium spots for AVIA W&S Motorsport

In perfect spring weather in the Eifel region and with many spectators around the track, the qualifying session went smoothly and revealed quickly how close the 13 competitors in the new Cup2 class are. Lap times well below 8:10 minutes on the 24.358 km long variant of the Grand Prix sprint track and the Nordschleife left astonished faces. Tim Scheerbarth then put the car on the fifth grid position. 

The AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS #960 with the crew Marius Rauer, Daniel Bohr and Sebastian Vittel qualified for the eighth starting position in Cup3. For the Vöhringer Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS #961 with Gentleman drivers Jürgen Vöhringer and René Höber at the helm, the four-hour race started from eleventh position. 

The production-based Porsche Cayman 2,7l V5 #460 qualified fourth in the V5 class. Here Kevin Rembert, Niclas Wiedmann and Dirk Biermann shared duties in the cockpit. 

At 12:00 o'clock, the 127 participants set off in three groups to race through the Green Hell. Start driver Tim Scheerbarth showed all his skills at the wheel of the AVIA racing Porsche 911 #120 and made up places. A puncture in the second lap forced him to make an early pit stop and thus thwarted the fight for the class win. Scheerbarth as well as Schall and Blickle posted consistent lap times and finished the opening race of the NLS in third place in Cup2 after 28 laps. 

In the AVIA racing Cayman GT4 #960, Bohr held his own in the starting phase. Vittel and Rauer followed suit and good team tactics ultimately gave the trio fifth place in the hard-fought Cayman Cup3 as well as victory in the AM classification. No less outstanding was the performance of the duo Höber and Vöhringer in the Cayman GT4 #961 over the 240-minute time distance. Jürgen Vöhringer made up positions in the first stint and René Höber was able to manage these gains. The Vöhringer Cayman crossed the finish line in eighth place and finished third in the AM classification. 

The second podium for W&S Motorsport was achieved by the driver trio Niclas Wiedmann, Kevin Rembert and Dirk Biermann in the Porsche Cayman #460. From fourth place in class V5, Biermann avoided any trouble at the start and held his ground in the third starting group. The experienced pit crew completed the stops flawlessly and so Rembert and Wiedmann also drove a perfect race, which was rewarded with third place. 

"The first race is in the books and we are very pleased with the results, as all four Porsches arrived without scratches," said Team Principal Daniel Schellhaas and continued: "After winning the Trophy last year, we have set ourselves a great challenge with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992, so we want to win the Porsche Endurance Trophy Nürburgring again. The class is very strong and the lap times at the top were very close and very fast. We pushed from the first lap. The early puncture unfortunately set us back a bit, but in the end we benefited from a mistake by another team and we got to finish on the podium." He concludes by stressing, "The results of the two Cup3 crews are just as creditable, which is a promising development. Our V5 drivers were also incredibly strong and there is definitely potential there for a class win. We can build on that at race two and keep attacking!" 

Ralf Schall joined the Cup2 Porsche driver squad just before the first race. The record holder in the long distance group wins summed up with satisfaction: "After my spontaneous decision to join the team, I can only say that it was the right call. The team from Swabia is super and I feel very well looked after, the guys do a top job. In the race I drove ten laps and it was quite good from my point of view. The experience in the car is still a bit lacking, so third place is absolutely great. Thanks to the professional squad from Ofterdingen and my two co-drivers!" 

Tim Scheerbarth also said happily, "The first race was very instructive and we now know which adjustment screws we still need to tweak a little, but I am very happy with the result. We drivers were faultless, the car remained without scratches and the tactics paid off. The weather was beautiful, which is not a normal thing for the first race. It was great to see the fans back at the Nordschleife. The car is incredibly fast, especially at passages like Schwedenkreuz, Fuchsröhre, Döttinger Höhe or Tiergarten, you can reach speeds like in the old days with so much power and less wing. The next few days are now to review data and do our homework, then race two may come." 

"We can be very happy with the result in the new car, I think our test work paid off. Of course there is still room for improvement, there is still some work to do. To be so far ahead in the overall result is very nice and the podium was our goal, so it was a good finish!", Daniel Blickle is delighted. 

Marius Rauer contested his first race in the AVIA racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS. The young talent sums up self-critically: "The result with fifth place in the first Cayman race is quite good. I am not yet happy with myself, I still made mistakes and I have to improve on that. I am sure that we will then be able to finish among the top three in the class." 

René Höber also had his premiere in Cup3 at the wheel of the Vöhringer Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS: "The competition in the class is already strong and my personal goal was to finish in the top ten. We achieved it with eighth place. Thanks to the good teamwork with Jürgen and the squad, I was able to improve continuously and it was great fun. In two weeks' time, we will be racing again, so I am looking forward to it!"

The action continues with the 46th NIMEX DMV 4h race on 09.04.2022. An even bigger field is expected for the second round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series. Before that, W&S Motorsport will be in action in Imola at the first race of the GT4 European Series.