Second season win following exciting duel with championship leader PepperCaygill and Jäger walk away from accidents on the slippery circuit unscathedThon, Hannawald and van der Linde were guests of Volkswagen
Jason Kremer from Bonn celebrated a triumphant home victory at the Nürburgring and subsequently kept the title race alive in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup. The German took victory on a slippery circuit in the Eifel region with a 0.4 second margin over championship leader Jordan Lee Pepper (ZA), who finished second after an exciting battle. Swedish driver Victor Bouveng managed to take third place in the final lap ahead of Junior-Cup leader Nicolaj Møller-Madsen of Denmark.
The championship race in the environmentally brand cup now comes down to a three-way battle. Pepper leads the championship standings with two races of this season remaining on 279 points pursued by Bouveng on 239 and Kremer on 237. Pepper, who has only just turned 18, could secure the championship title ahead of the final race weekend with a win in the second race on Sunday morning, if Bouveng finishes no higher than third.
During a spectacular race on a wet circuit with several spins and exciting head-to-head battles, Sweden's Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky was the highest placed of the four women in the field in fifth position. Indian guest driver Rahil Noorani, the reigning Polo-Cup India champion, finished in 16th place. Josh Caygill (GB) and Lukas Jäger (A) both walked away from accidents unscathed. It started to rain shortly before the start of the race, but all the drivers had already chosen dry-weather tyres. Jason Kremer went into the first bend with more confidence and stole the lead from Pepper. The cautious South African driver was subsequently overtaken in the next few laps by Møller-Madsen and Germany's Moritz Oberheim, who battled his way to the front of the field from ninth position.
An exciting four-way battle for victory developed before Oberheim surrendered his chances of a win with a spin on lap six. In the seventh lap Møller-Madsen skidded on the wet kerb and thus forfeited his hopes of victory as well. A two-way battle then ensued between Kremer and Pepper and the German held his nerve to clinch victory.
Volkswagen had the pleasure of welcoming renowned guests Olaf Thon (D) and Sven Hannawald (D) on this the penultimate race weekend of the season. FIFA world cup winner from 1990 Olaf Thon came along at the invitation of partner Gazprom and listened to an explanation of the Scirocco-Cup car from DTM legend Manuel Reuter. Olympic ski jump champion Hannawald was here as a VIP spectator on this occasion following his guest appearance on the track at the Norisring.
Last year's champion in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, Kelvin van der Linde, was also in attendance at the Nürburgring. The talented Volkswagen racing driver piloted a DTM racing taxi on Saturday for Audi. On Sunday he will have the chance to cross his fingers for the title race as South African compatriot and championship leader Jordan Lee Pepper once again starts the race from the front of the grid. Nicolaj Møller-Madsen and Jason Kramer will start right behind him. However, the second race is something of an early bird special as the action gets underway at 8.55 a.m.
Quotes after race number eight of the season at the Nürburgring
Manuel Reiter, DTM legend and mentor of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup: “A very strong race from our young Scirocco-Cup drivers. Starting with slicks in such slippery conditions was an extremely difficult affair, but the boys and girls mastered it wonderfully, particularly after the start when reducing speed on the hairpin turn. They all battled hard, but were also savvy. Compliments also go the first three drivers, who gave the spectators some spectacular racing action. The championship remains exciting.”
#16 Jason KremerQualifying 2 – Race 1: “I'm absolutely delighted with the win here at the Nürburgring. I started very well. The first couple of laps I really had to concentrate and look out to see where it was especially slippery. As the race progressed, however, the track continued to dry out and I was able to put my foot down. Jordan Lee was really close behind me the whole time and put me under a lot of pressure. I was forced to drive a blocking line on several occasions in order to keep him from going past me. But I was faster than him in the decisive sections and that was enough. On Sunday I am hoping for another win and I'll be ready for all weather conditions.”
#17 Jordan Lee PepperQualifying 1 - Race 2: “My race plan was to conserve my push-to-pass attempts. This was working well until I made a really stupid mistake. For around three laps I forgot to look at the pit board. I was simply too preoccupied on the duel with Jason. I was convinced that there were still more laps remaining, which is why I didn't use my last push-to-pass when approaching the finishing line. However, given the difficult weather conditions I am very satisfied with second place. On Sunday I want to attack fully in the second race, win it and claim the title.”
#23 Victor BouvengQualifying 10 - Race 3: “I'm ecstatic to still be in the championship running. Particularly as I hadn't given myself much of a chance from tenth on the grid. Luckily I managed to get a good start. The conditions in the first race were hazardous, as it was extremely slippery and we were drifting like rally drivers. Winter training with my old Volvo in the snow had evidently paid off. It's awesome that I managed to overtake Nicolaj Møller-Madsen on the last lap thanks to my push-to-pass and get a little revenge for the photo finish in Spielberg, where he went past me on the final bend.”
#14 Nicolaj Møller-MadsenQualifying 3 – Race 4: “The race was extremely difficult. The rain at the beginning turned the circuit into an ice rink. I started the race really well though and overtook Jordan Lee Pepper after two laps. Afterwards I made up serious ground on Kremer but I made a mistake coming over the start-finish line and almost ended up in the tyre walls. As Victor was behind me in the final bend, I had used up all of my push-to-passes and consequently I wasn't able to stop him from overtaking me. I'm quite happy with the result of the race, but I'm a little annoyed about my driving mistakes. On Sunday I'd finally like to secure a victory after all of my second, third and fourth places this year.
