The races are coming thick and fast. Looking forward to being back in Nurburg on Thursday evening for the next race. Really hoping for a good race, a finish, and improving our lap times.

This race is the last before the incomparable 24H – I would expect a full entry list – maybe 200 cars – and some interesting cars and tactics.

Post-race update …

Yes – 214 cars entered qualifying with 208 posting a time.  The race ended slightly early under the red flag – following another great Manthey victory – with just 148 cars.  We finished 91st overall and 7th in class V6 of 17 starters and 12 finishers.  The weather was stunning – (too) warm and dry.

Mark took the start and finish stints with me running in the middle.  The suspension was not right – it had been further adjusted but was in fact worse than the race before – some of the hopping experienced (with the stiffer springs) at the season test was back.  This made the car lively at the rear (bouncing and hopping) and I found it very unsettling.

The car also had an intermittent electrical problem (alternator or battery) during the race – in fact the car died on the last lap – but due to the red flag we were still running when the race finished and so were given a place.

Since the race the team have found a specific problem with the suspension and are working hard to get it fully sorted for the 24H.

Mark really persevered and given the circumstances posted some good times.

Just 10 days from the last attempt – VLN #2 is this coming weekend. The car is repaired and ready to go – the drivers are keen to get the season started properly and be prepared for the 24h in May.

I’m not superstitious, but practising on Friday 13th doesn’t seem ideal

More news after the weekend.

We had a good solid weekend. The car ran well and we leaned some things about the car.

We didn’t run in practise with the car and team arriving Friday afternoon just in time for a hectic scrutineering caused by the organisers messing up our paperwork. Thankfully some local contacts were extremely helpful.

Saturday morning qualifying ran cleanly but we kept running to a minimum to ensure the car would get to the race this time.

Mark offered me the start which was mostly dry, and on slicks. Even on the warm up lap there was a VW on fire on the exit of the Karussell! For the first seven laps somewhere or other on the track was very slightly damp and there were plenty of crashes bring out the yellow flags. Lap 8 was completely dry, but my in-lap. Mark took over and did his 8 lap stint starting to get to grips with the car and bring the lap times down, returning the car to me to run to the finish. I did about 4 laps when the race was red-flagged because of hail at Hohe Acht.

We needed to get a good reliable race and get to the finish – the team were delighted with our progress and we’re really looking forward to the next race and working on the lap times. We now have a much better understanding of the fuel usage and some tuning of the suspension will help settle the car and improve the lap times.

Zwei Wochen!

Off to Germany tomorrow for the first VLN of the season. The BMW Z4M is prepared and ready to go following a bit less running that we would have liked in testing. We have the official power test on Friday and then practise on the Nordschleife between 4pm and 6pm. The race is from 12-4pm Saturday – weather not looking all that warm, and could be wet

Start list.

Not a good report from the weekend … I had a rear puncture going down the Fuchsröhre and the tyre totally failed at the compression and spun the car up the hill. The car was not in fact damaged badly, but some suspension components were broken and so we could not enter the race on Saturday.

Hopefully better luck for us next time!

The official VLN Probe und Einstellfahrt is tomorrow and I’m heading out to meet Mark Griffiths, Dave Forsbrey and the Brunswick team to test the newly prepared BMW Z4M. The car will run the season of 10 VLN races and I am hoping to do the first 3 races and the 24h.

I’m taking part in the race on 15th October 2011 with a new team and a new car. I’ll be driving a Renault Clio Cup for half of the 4 hour race. Really looking forward to the trying out the car prepared and run by Roadrunner Racing.