Tuesday, July 7, 2015

VLN: Difficult race for Phoenix finishes with sixth place


Phoenix Racing Press Release

Christian Mamerow (Waltrop) and Ferdinand Stuck (Austria) in the Phoenix Racing entered Audi R8 LMS ultra finished the sizzling battle that raged around the ‘Green Hell’ during the fourth round of the VLN endurance championship Nürburgring in sixth place. Phoenix duo took fifth place in qualifying.

Tremendous heat that put enormous demands on man and machine dominated the first Saturday in July around the legendary Nordschleife. While Mamerow and Stuck coped with the exertions just as well as the Phoenix Audi, it was nevertheless a difficult race for the team from Meuspath close to the Nürburgring. Because due to the current balance of performance, Mamerow/Stuck could not keep pace with the leaders and especially on the straights.


“Our R8 ran perfectly, the pits stops were excellent and there were no incidents whatsoever. Even so, sixth was the maximum today,” explained Christian Mamerow the dissatisfying result due to the excessively small restrictor. In the end, Mamerow/Stuck finished sixth a good 46 seconds behind the winning team.

Mamerow drove the opening stint in the four-hour race. At the first pit stop, Ferdinand Stuck took over the R8 racer before Mamerow assumed driving duties again for the final stint. Phoenix Racing was only momentarily shocked in practice when Ferdinand Stuck and Peter Dumbreck (Porsche) touched lightly at the end of the start-finish straight. Only two plastic parts on the co-driver’s side of the Audi had to be replaced afterwards.

The fifth race of the VLN season is held at the ‘Ring’ on August 1.

Photo credit: VLN