Mike Rockenfeller raced to his second-consecutive victory in the Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring (VLN) endurance series on June 11. The Monaco driver teamed with Marc Bessing of Köln, Germany, for the win in the No. 96 Land Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Rockenfeller qualified second in the 167-car field with a time of eight minutes 24.203 seconds on the 25.378-kilometre Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany, about eight seconds faster than the previous best time in the car. He drove the first stint of the four-hour race and maintained second place, as did Bessing during the second shift. Rockenfeller returned for the final drive and capitalized on a tire problem that forced the race-leading Porsche 996 Turbo to pit, giving Rockenfeller the race lead and win.

"The Alzen [Porsche Turbo] car needs to refuel one more time in a four-hour race than we do, but it's not enough to beat them if they have no problems," Rockenfeller acknowledged. "But they had a tire problem and they had to stop one more time, so then we were in front and we won the race. It was really cool for the team and it was fun for me because it's a home circuit for me. I really enjoyed it."

Rockenfeller drove the same car in the 24h-Rennen Nürburgring in May, giving him a solid feel for the complex 175-turn track.

"I learned so much from the 24 hours that I feel quite confident now on the track. I think the lap times showed that I can really be fast there," he said. "There are some special things [to learn], but if you want to be a professional, you should be able to drive fast on every race track. Of course, on the Nordschleife it takes longer and it's always a little different because of traffic. Sometimes you take a different line to overtake, and that's where you need the experience. I still can learn or improve, but basically to do a lap time, I know the track now."

Rockenfeller's next race is les 24 Heures du Mans in France on June 18 and 19.