Frikadelli Racing targets strong result at VLN 2 race
27.04.2016
• Sabine Schmitz, Klaus Abbelen and Patrick Huisman will take the wheel of the new Porsche 911 GT3 at the 4-hour race
• Frikadelli Racing wants to get rid of the bad luck experienced at the season opener as well as during the Qualifying Race for the Nürburgring 24 Hours
• Modified differential-set-up will improve braking performance
• New Michelin-tyres meet the high expectations
The proven Frikadelli-trio is well prepared: the familiar driver line up Sabine Schmitz, Klaus Abbelen and Patrick Huisman will tackle the 41. DMV Four-hour race at the legendary Nordschleife. Just two weeks after the six-hour Qualifying Race for the classic Nürburgring 24 Hours the cult outfit from Barweiler is looking forward to benefit from the gained experiences with the new Porsche 911 GT3 R and wants to finish a countable result.
One month ago, a damaged underbody at the rear strongly affected the performance of the Porsche 911 GT3 R during the season opener. At the prologue, “the world’s fastest meatball” was again involved in difficulties through no fault of its own: Patrick Huisman had to wilfully spin the Frikadelli Porsche to avoid a collision with two colliding competitors. Thanks to a tremendous catch-up on a drying track, the Frikadelli-Porsche fought its way back from the end of the field and finished in 18th position.
After the short-term comeback of the winter in the Eifel region a few days ago, the weather forecast for the second VLN-race of the season is quite good, predicting up to nine degrees on Saturday as well as dry and sunny weather.
In 2016, the “Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring” (German for “long-distance endurance championship”) comprises ten races. The final round will be held on October 22. The Four-hour Saturday-races will take place at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife plus the short circuit version of the Grand Prix track, resulting in a total distance of 24.358 kilometres per lap. On September 3rd there will even be a Six-hour-race. The highlight of the season – the legendary Nürburgring 24 Hours – is not part of the VLN and will take place on May 28 and 29. Competitors will tackle a lap of 25.378 kilometres that consists of the Nordschleife plus the Grand Prix circuit without the stadium section.
This weekend, the racing action will start on Saturday after the test sessions on Friday. The 90-minute practice will begin at 8.30 a.m. The start of the Four-Hour-Race is at 12.00 a.m., the chequered flag will drop at 4.00 p.m. Podium ceremony is scheduled for 6.00 p.m.
Quotes before the second VLN-leg:
Klaus Abbelen (Tönisvorst, team owner and driver): “We have slightly modified the set-up of our Porsche 911 GT3 R after the Six-hour Qualifying Race. The aim was to improve the braking by changing the set-up of the differential lock. We will see the effect of those modifications on Friday morning during the test session. We have set ourselves ambitious goals for the next weekend and we want to finish in the top five. For us it will be the last chance to gain experiences with the new Porsche 911 GT3 R before the Nürburgring 24 Hours. We won’t race this car in the third VLN leg because in case there should be problems or a crash, time would be too short to prepare for the 24-hor-race.”
Sabine Schmitz (Barweiler, driver): “Having driven the first kilometres on the Nordschleife after the reconstruction measures have been finished, I have to say that the track is much faster now. ,Flugplatz‘ is going almost flat out – in the past we had to slow down in this section. The new asphalt seems to be quite slippery at first sight, but it offers a lot of grip. So we have to find our way up to the limit and to the right speed. Unfortunately, driving our new Porsche 911 GT3 R is not as much fun as it could be due to the new ,Balance-of-Performance‘-classification.”
Patrick Huisman (NL, driver): “As expected, the new Michelin racing tires that we tested at the 24-hour-prologue for the first time are really good. They fit perfectly to the Porsche – the car now allows a wider tyre dimension at the front axle. Moreover, the tyres perform very constant during the long-distance-runs. We are still gaining experiences with this combination of new tyres and new dimensions, but we already made a big step in the right direction. This weekend, we will see if we can translate the new findings gained during the Qualification Race in a good result. I guess that we are on the right way. The new Porsche 911 GT3 R feels quite good already.”
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