Nürburg, 17 October 2022 – The saying goes that you can have all four seasons in a single day at Nürburgring. When the AvD Historic Race Cup descended onto Nürburgring with the 36 participants from the HRA and the FFR-FOR series for their final racing weekend of 2022, track conditions started wet on Friday but they improved over the weekend to see some very attractive racing.
During the 1st qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon an ongoing drizzle caused the track to be wet and even though the weather improved somewhat on Saturday for the 2nd qualifying, track conditions caused a few spins due to a lack of grip. Luckily no damage was done and all cars were ready to line up for the start of the first race on Sunday morning.
With the track still moist due to the cold night, the HRA drivers were the first start group to go out for Race 1, followed 30 seconds later by the Formula Fords and Formula Opels from the FFR-FOR. Stephan Lechine in his F3 (#189) started the race from pole position, with Stefan Krämer’s FF 2000 (#333) in second position, Peter Schmitz’ F3 (#111) in 3rd and Elio Cocciarelli’s Sports 2000 (#601) in 4th. David Schneider (#12, Formula Opel), Marvin Brandl (#26, Formula Opel), Pascal Monbaron (#96, FF Zetec) and Jochen Thissen (#28, Formula Opel) were on the first two rows of the second starting group.
Race 1 started with a battle between Roberto Cocciarelli, Stephan Lechine and Stefan Krämer for the lead. After one lap Krämer was heading the race, when Friedhelm Stolzer (#188) parked his F3 on the curb after a spin. This caused a Safety Car situation with the whole field closing in. After the restart Krämer initially gained the lead, but he was quickly overtaken by Stephan Lechine, Marvin Brandl and David Schneider, until Lechine spun and dropped back to third position behind Schneider. In the following laps he first caught Schneider and a little later Brandl as well, winning the race, with Brandl and Schneider second and third overall, followed by Pascal Monbaron 4th because of a 30-second penalty Thissen who ended 5th.
With his 6th place overall Cedric Baeten (#40) took his first win in the FF 2000 class for the FFR-FOR, with Phillip Menzner #6) second and Andreas Menzner (#8) third. Henry Clausnitzer (#89) ended as 16th overall, but took second place in the FF Zetec class, with Martin Walter (#81) in third. Klaus-Dieter Häckel (#47) won the FF1600 class, followed by Jeffrey Thiesen (#63) and Carly Meskes (#128).
The second race started under near perfect conditions, after the autumn sunshine had dried the track. From the get-go Marvin Brandl and David Schneider were in a fierce fight for the lead, until a spin by John Westenberg in his F3 (#104) right after the Mercedes curve caused the safety car to come out. After the restart, some 4 laps later, the duel continued until Schneider spun and touched Brandl’s rear tire, causing the later to drop out of the race due to a flat. Beneficiaries of this collision were Jochen Thissen who dominated the rest of the race, followed by Pascal Monbaron and Philipp Menzner, who took 2nd and 3rd place overall and winning their respective classes. Andreas Menzner and Cedric Baeten, in their FF 2000s, crossed the line as 4th and 5th overall. The winners in the FF1600 class were Klaus-Dieter Häckel (#47), Roel Mulder (#22) and again Carly Meskes (#128) in third place, while Henry Clausnitzer and Martin Walter won 2nd and 3rd respectively in the FF Zetec class.
The FFR-FOR also used the occasion to honour the overall winners of the 2022 championship. In the FF1600 class Klaus-Dieter Häckel was the overall winner with 81,56 points, followed by Roel Mulder (56,19) and Matthew Dean (41,43). First place in the FF 2000 class was for Philip Menzner (87,32), Andreas Menzner (65,74) ended as second, while Onno Zuidema (40,65), who wasn’t at Nürburgring, still secured 3rd place in the championship. Although a close finish, ultimately Pascal Monbaron (69,84) won the FF Zetec championship ahead of Henry Clausnitzer (65,99) and Eric Heudicourt (27,17). Marvin Brandl dominated the Formula Opel class with a total of 96,01 points. Jochen Thissen (66,15) came second and Alan Williamson (33,17) third.
With the 2022 season now ended, the FFR-FOR organisers are working hard to secure a great programme for the 2023 racing season.