Nurburgring report

Race 13 + 14 at Nurburgring GP Circuit (4.452 km) weather: sunny with cloudy periods, 23 C. spectators: 63000

Top 15 qualifying:

Pos        Driver                Nat           Team/Car                        Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 Joerg van Ommen              D        Zakspeed/Mercedes-Benz C180 V6        1:36.68
 2 Kurt Thiim                 DK        Zakspeed/Mercedes-Benz C180 V6        1:36.93
 3 Nicola Larini         I        Alfa Corse/Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti        1:37.20
 4 Alessandr Nannini         I        Alfa Corse/Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti        1:37.41
 5 Bernd Schneider         D        AMG/Mercedes-Benz C180 V6        1:37.44
 6 Roland Asch                 D        AMG/Mercedes-Benz C180 V6        1:37.82
 7 Klaus Ludwig                 D        AMG/Mercedes-Benz C180 V6        1:37.86
 8 Keke Rosberg                 FIN        Joest/Opel Calibra V6                1:38.26
 9 Manuel Reuter         D        Joest/Opel Calibra V6                1:38.29
10 Christian Danner         D        Schuebel/Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti        1:38.30
11 Giorgio Francia         I        Schuebel/Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti        1:38.73
12 Ellen Lohr                 D        AMG/Mercedes-Benz C180 V6        1:39.28
13 Stefano Buttiero         I        Alfa Corse/Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti        1:39.91
14 "John Winter"         D        Joest/Opel Calibra V6                1:41.53
15 Kris Nissen           DK        Schuebel/Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti        *

* DNS in top15 qualfifying (wrong tires mounted...?) Was set in 15th position because of pre-qualifying.

RACE 1 (23 laps =104.46 km)

Collision after the start in first chicane (Castrol-S) between Asch, Larini, Nannini. Larini, Nannini spin into the gravel, but both get their cars back on the track.(4wd!) lap 5: Larini hits Nissen, who came up from 15th to 11th pos. Nissen spins, drops back again. 8: Larini in difficulties, following Ellen Lohr very sideways 10: 1. van Ommen, 2. Thiim, 3. Schneider, 4. Ludwig, 5. Asch 6. Francia, 7. Rosberg, 8. Reuter, 9. Danner, 10. Lohr 12: Rosberg kicks Francia, Rosberg 6th, Reuter 7th. 13: Larini pits, out (engine) 15: Danner slipping out on his own oil on the way to the pits. 16: Thiim limping to the pits with flat left rear tire. 19: v.Ommen, Schneider, Ludwig, Asch, Rosberg, Reuter, Lohr 20: Ludwig passing Schneider, smells like pit order. Asch could have easily passed Ludwig some laps before. Ludwig's got an additional weight of 50 kilo, Asch's got none, but Asch kept behind.

Pos Driver                Time
--------------------------------
 1 van Ommen                38:37.52
 2 Ludwig                38:44.22
 3 Schneider                38:44.48
 4 Asch                        38:44.81
 5 Rosberg                38:48.98
 6 Reuter                38:50.81
 7 Lohr                        39:01.91
 8 Nannini                39:15.79
 9 Francia                 39:16.04
10 Nissen                39:21.90

        FL: van Ommen
 

RACE 2 (23 laps =104.46 km)

No start for Larini and Danner.(unrepairable cars) Nannini starting with Buttiero's Alfa.

Ellen Lohr spins in 1st lap and drops back, hit by "John Winter". lap 2: Schneider takes the lead from v.Ommen. 3: Schneider, van Ommen, Asch, Ludwig, Thiim, Nannini, Reuter 4: Rosberg pits, out (engine?) Asch takes 3rd from Ludwig. 7: Stop and go penalty for Kurt Thiim for his flash start. 9: van Ommen takes the lead back from Schneider, Ludwig 3rd from Asch. 10: v.Ommen, Schneider, Ludwig, Asch Nannini, Reuter. 12: Reuter passing Nannini for 5th pos. Schneider pitstop for new tires. 14: Schneider stalls with a smoking engine. (again!) 17: Kurt Thiim is biting his wheel, now in 7th position again. 18: Thiim FL 20: Thiim takes 6th place from Nissen, Reuter 4th from Nannini.

Pos Driver              Time
--------------------------------
 1 van Ommen            38:23.58
 2 Ludwig                    38:27.06
 3 Asch                        38:27.34
 4 Reuter                38:28.19   
 5 Nannini                38:41.15
 6 Thiim                38:43.01
 7 Nissen                38:59.30
 8 Lohr                        39:04.07
 9 Bartels (Alfa '93)        39:36.99
10 Grau (Mercedes '93)        39:38.20

Standings

Pos  Driver                Pts
---------------------------
 1 Klaus Ludwig                174
 2 Alessandro Nannini        135
 3 Joerg van Ommen        132
 4 Kurt Thiim                 94
 5 Nicola Larini         92
 6 Roland Asch                 89
 7 Kris Nissen                 85
 8 Christian Danner         72
 9 Ellen Lohr                 60
10 Manuel Reuter          58

After this Waterloo for Alfa Romeo let's see what's going to happen at "The Avus" (Berlin) in 2 weeks.(Sept/4) There is still a chance for Nannini. 3 more weekends =6 races left for this season.

-- __ ```````` \# # # # ````````````````````````````````````````` []__-' (Q,___\ ```` \# # # # ````````````Harald Bloche, GMD````````````` `(*)[HH]___(*)Z> ``` \# `````````````D-53731 Sankt Augustin```````` ``````````````````````` \\ `````````````````Email: harald.bloche@gmd.de```