In perfect weather conditions, 128 cars started the 67th ADAC Westfalenfahrt, the season opener of the Nürburgring Endurance Series. The spectators around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife also turned out in large numbers, who were delighted to see a new crowd favorite in the endurance series: PROsport Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
“Four cars at the start, four cars at the finish and without any problems,” is how PROsport Racing team boss Chris Esser sums up the start of the season on the Nordschleife.
For the racing team from Wiesemscheid, it was the first race outing with the British GT3 car on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The driver duo of the car had to be changed at short notice on Saturday, as regular driver Jean Glorieux was unable to start due to health problems. His Belgian compatriot Nico Verdonck replaced him and shared the car with Maxime Dumarey.
After four hours of racing, the car saw the checkered flag in 16th position, which is equivalent to 14th in the SP9 Pro class. “As expected, it was a strenuous start in GT3,” summarizes team boss Chris Esser. “The gap to the top is much higher than we expected, but at least the car ran without any problems on both days. There’s still a long way to go, but those who know me, or rather PROsport, know that we will do everything we can to close the gap bit by bit.”
Things went much more successfully for the GT4 drivers. Guido Dumarey and Yevgen Sokolovskiy drove their Aston Martin Vantage GT4 to second position in the SP10 class. The two drivers showed a flawless race and were able to continuously improve. “Our gentlemen on the GT4 were able to significantly improve their personal best time on the Nordschleife and have moved a good deal closer to the top cars,” Esser summed up after the race.
The “Permit Driving School Cars” also put in an appealing performance at the season opener of the Nürburgring Endurance Series. The two Belgians Guillaume Dumarey and Simon Balcaen won the VT3 class with their Porsche Cayman. Emil Heyerdahl and Ulf Schmidt drove to fifth position in the V5 category. Chris Esser is satisfied with the four drivers, who put in strong performances: “The four Permit drivers did their laps cleanly, made no mistakes and showed, in some cases by setting very good lap times, that they will be able to handle faster cars on the Nordschleife in the future.”
The Nürburgring Endurance Series continues on April 9 with the 46th NIMEX DMV 4h Race.
