Nürburgring 24 Hours – Thursday Evening Notes
Vorsicht! The four hour qualifying session on Thursday evening began in fine weather at 19:30 local time, with the only changes in conditions coming before it ended being a reduction in temperature and, of course, the arrival of the dark – and in such a remote and elevated location, that means it can get very cold for the time of year, and very dark indeed out on the Nordschleife. The second car out on track was the Hankook Team Farnbacher Ferrari 458 Italia, with Dominik Farnbacher at the wheel; and the German driver made full use of a clear track and a set of super-soft Hankook boots to set a provisional (and more than likely actual) pole time of 8:23.764 - a full second faster than the 2010 pole – before most drivers were even settled into their seats. With the internet signal in the media centre dropping off on a frustratingly regular basis – making following Radio Le Mans or the live-timing almost impossible (the TV screen showing only the top 25 cars) – your scribe decided to head to the pits for a reconnoitre. “Vorsicht!” The first thing that strikes you as you enter the pitlane at the Nürburgring is the sheer number of cars and people. “Vorsicht!” The whole place is a frenzy of activity, with the only clear stretch being the hot lane, as crews wave their cars in, attempt to find a space in which to work on it and change drivers, tyres, etc. and then attempt to clear a space to let the car go again. “Vorsicht!” The German word for “Watch out!” was much in use, as was the siren that indicated that another car had entered the pitlane. But in amongst the apparent chaos, things were getting done – teams were rotating their drivers, changes were made to set-up and fuel was topped up (with very little evidence of fire-proof clothing, surprisingly); and each time the pump was used, an official with a clipboard would note down how much fuel had been taken on board. “Vorsicht!” The crowd parted to reveal a very battered and bonnetless #17 Audi R8 heading for the pits. A very stern looking Dr Wolfgang Ullrich looked on as the driver climbed out and the team got to work. It turned out to be remarkably easy to get from one end of the pitlane to the other and the geography of the place was beginning to sink in. What was not so easy was picking out people to talk to from the throng. I managed to grab a few words with Tommy Milner to ask how his day was going in the #21 Need for Speed Schubert Racing BMW Z4 – “It’s going okay. We’re concentrating on finding a set-up for the race and so far we haven’t had any major problems. We could do with being a bit faster, but it looks like all the Z4s are in the same boat.” – and also caught up with Adam Christodoulou and Phil Quaife towards the end of the session. The CRS Racing Ferrari drivers are sharing a Bonk Motorsport BMW in the Sp10 (GT4) class with Tim Mullen and Andreas Montmann and ended the session leading the class; this coming on the back of a class-win at the last VLN race. But this didn’t mean that all was ideal for the young British drivers; “We need more night testing,” said Christodoulou. “The plan was for me to bed some brakes in and then do a couple of quick laps, but I was brought in at the end of my bedding-in lap so that the team could get Tim out there. Fortunately, my stint in the race takes me through dusk, so at least I won’t be getting in for my first night lap when it’s fully dark!” Phil Quaife was in the same position as his teammate and was anxiously pacing the garage as the session neared its end. Mullen had gone out with about 15 minutes to go and had to complete a lap and be back in time for Quaife to get in and be on the Nordschleife before the chequered flag fell. With only a two-hour qualifying session on-track for the 24H runners on Friday afernoon, DSC will attempt to gather more reaction to the first day’s proceedings beforehand. Official notes from the evening - here MH | 
