A successful comeback: Stefano Proetto clinched his first victory in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup at the Norisring. The 25-year-old from Munich, who returned to motorsport after a five-year break, took the lead thanks to a perfect start and put a clear distance between himself and his immediate rivals up to the end of the race. The Pole Maciek Steinhof finished the race on the Nuremberg city street circuit as the runner-up and thus clearly extended his lead in the standings. Third place went to 18-year-old Christian Schweiger from Pollenried (Germany) who mounted the podium for the first time ever and won the Junior classification.
The seasoned rally campaigner and Dakar driver Krzysztof Hołowczyc showed a remarkable performance on different terrain and as the best "legend” occupied fourth place. Sports car specialist Ralf Kelleners took sixth place, Formula 1 veteran Marc Surer claimed ninth place in front of the former DTM racer Christian Abt. Formula 3 Champion Bertram Schäfer finished in 17th place. While the positions at the top were occupied early, the spectators in the stands and in front of TV sets saw numerous mid-field duels. After an accident by Dennis Rieger, who first touched the guard rail in the S-Corner, then rolled over and hit the track barrier hard, the race was stopped early and classified after 18 laps. The driver from Kempten (Germany) got out of his car without external help but, as a precaution, was taken to a hospital for a thorough medical check.
Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director:
"We can be very pleased with the race: the drivers were very disciplined and dealt with each other fairly; in addition, the technology worked flawlessly in the high temperatures. After the fantastic victory of the German soccer team, our one-two win in Formula 3 and the exciting race today we’ve really got a lot to celebrate for today.”
Stefano Proetto (D), qualifying: 2nd place, race: 1st place
"I’m overjoyed. Mounting the podium right away after returning to motorsport from a five-year break is an exhilarating feeling. After retiring at the EuroSpeedway I was really hot about clinching a good result here. Today we’ll seriously celebrate.”
Christian Schweiger (D), qualifying: 9th place, race: 3rd place, Junior Cup: 1st place
"I managed a perfect start and immediately advanced to third place. In the race I made prudent use of my push-to-pass attempts in order to still have the chance to react in the end if necessary. Today was only my first car race ever, so I’m very happy.”
Krzysztof Hołowczyc (PL), qualifying: 1st place, race: 4th place, Legend Cup: 1st place
”My thanks go to Volkswagen for the invitation – it was really a lot of fun competing with the many young drivers and the four veterans. At the start I lost a lot of places because I was the only driver not to use push-to-pass. Afterwards I slid around the corners now and then but I’m used to that from the rallies.”
Ralf Kelleners (D), qualifying: 3rd place, race: 6th place, Legend Cup: 2nd place
”This has been my first time ever behind the wheel of a front-wheel drive racing car and I was surprised about how well I was able to handle it. The Scirocco R handles like a genuine racing car. At the start I had heavily spinning wheels and lost a few places.”
Marc Surer (CH), qualifying: 14th place, race: 9th place, Legend Cup: 3rd place
"The race was good fun. I was running in mid-field and had no chance of victory – but instead enjoyed some very nice duels, just the way it should be in motorsport. You don’t feel the natural gas engine itself at all; the Scirocco feels like driving a real racing car.”
Christian Abt (D), qualifying: 11th place, race: 10th place, Legend Cup: 4th place
”The Scirocco handles superbly, you can really fight with it in a tremendous way. On the other hand you’ve also got to be a tactician to make good use of the additional horsepower. The cup is a great thing, for the young drivers as well as for us old men.”
Bertram Schäfer (D), qualifying: 20th place, race: 17th place, Legend Cup: 5th place
”My last race at the Norisring was 36 years ago – and it was also with Volkswagen. At that time I laid the foundation for my title win in Formula V. I truly enjoyed the race today and didn’t take too many risks.”
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