BMW Motorsport claimed victory in today’s season opening VLN race at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, finishing first and second overall. Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus and Uwe Alzen drove the winning no.42 BMW M3 GT, whilst Dirk Müller, Dirk Werner and Andy Priaulx brought the no.43 car home second, 51 seconds behind its sister car after four hours of running.

It was a repeat of the 2010 result, and further underlines the team’s belief that The “Green Hell” remains BMW territory..

With sunny conditions and an air temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius, the VLN fans experienced a gripping race, which saw the front-runners racing closely together for most of the time. Having started from first (no. 43) and second (no. 42) on the grid, the two BMW M3 GT cars were involved in exciting duels and managed to complete the race without any technical problems, whereas some of their major rivals dropped back due to several incidents.

The lead had changed several times, before final-stint drivers Jörg Müller and Dirk Müller were able to score the one-two result. For Alzen this is his tenth overall victory in the VLN, while it is a first for Jörg Müller and Farfus.

A successful start for Mercedes

The SLS AMG GT3 which is contesting its first full season of racing, had an equally successful day with three cars in the top 10, two of them from the Black Falcon team. British driver, Sean Paul Breslin in the 3rd Black Falcon SLS AMG GT3, finished in 19th place with a best lap of 8:33.621.

Team Black Falcon

The next race in the VLN series will be contested on 30th April.

Race results.

Pos. Driver Car Fastest Lap
1. J.Müller/Farfus/Alzen BMW M3 GT 8:26.497
2. Priaulx/D.Müller/Werner BMW M3 GT 8:25.232
3. Heyer/Jäger/Seyffarth/Bleekemolen Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 8:24.241
4. Horn/Bert Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 8:32.027
5. Schmitz/Kentenich/Basseng Porsche 911 GT3 R 8:25.845
6. Menzel/Stursberg/Riegel Porsche 911 GT3 R 8:26.998
7. Lebed/Schall/Plesse Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 8:31.219
8. Haase/Simonsen/Bronzel Audi R8 LMS 8:35.347
9. Weiss/Kainz/Jacobs Porsche 911 GT3 8:28.150
10. Illbruck/Lauck Porsche 911 GT3 R 8:26.597