>>Pictures from the 24h Run 2007<<  

„That was one of the best 24h-Races I’ve ever had in my life“, even after a time-lag of one day Andre Ibron was still enthusiastic. The head of the team of “Racing Event Motorsport” was very proud of his crew and the drivers and happy about the whole event. After almost unreal weather capers the DEGUSSA BMW 135 DBD saw the chequered flag. “We got through the race perfectly and a victory in our class could have been possible as well. But if you know that such a team is backing you, the final placing doesn’t matter at all.” In the end the white BMW was assessed on rank 5 in its class.

Right at the beginning of the race the head of the team was not that euphoric. Due to a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain the start had to be delayed for almost two hours. “It was absolutely correct to await the thunderstorm. At that time many teams at the pre-starting grid, as ourselves, had slicks on their cars.” Andre Ibron was glad that due to the delayed start the mechanics were allowed to change tires.

When the race finally started, the quartet Franz Groß, Bug Bunny (alias Guido Wirtz), Christian Steffens and Markus Horn set about to push forward bit by bit. The dataset –allocated especially for the 24-Hours-Race by Wetterauer – was perfectly adjusted to the biodiesel-engine. The engine was rated for endurance by lower output. Exactly what you need for the grand marathon at the Eifel.

“Lying on position 2 we had, owing to water ingress, a little problem with a defective fuse. That set us nearly two hours back. But we are moving forward again.” During a fierce hunt the DEGUSSA BMW managed to drive from the very end up to position 3 in its class.

About 3 a.m. mist arose. What some drivers in the beginning might have referred to smoke of one of the many campfires, soon turned out to be a real problem. The sight was close to zero and at 4 a.m. the race management decided to adjourn the race. Shortly afterwards the only bone of contention which the persons in charge had to put up with happened: Instead of lining the cars at the “Döttinger Höhe” and the start and home stretch with parc-fermé-regulations, all teams were allowed to work on their vehicles.

“Two of our competitors virtually assembled new cars during the adjournment”, Racing Event Motorsport didn’t have the facility to carry out an engine revision along the way. All the works-teams took advantage of the unfortunate decision of the racing management. “Luckily our car went well and we did what was necessary – that meant changing the brakes and cleaning the car.” With a freshly furbished car the race at 10 a.m. finally proceeded. Meanwhile lying on position 2, the competitor on rank 1 came into the pit with technical problems. “Yet we were happy, since the class-victory was within reach again.” But the gladness was short-lived. Franz Groß reported via radio from the “Dunlop-Bend”. Indeed the engine was running and the gears could be justly engaged but the power wasn’t carried forward. The double-mass flywheel was broken.

“Luckily the track marshals and the breakdown service reacted very fast and we were able to start working on the car shortly after the malfunction.” The team pottered feverishly to eliminate the problem. Together and due to real teamwork they managed to fix the DEGUSSA BMW in less than two hours. Considerably fallen behind, it was now about to regain at least a few positions. All drivers keenly pushed the throttle. When the white BMW 1, lying on position 5, finally crossed the finishing line, the jubilations of the team had no limits. Though everybody was pretty tired, the whole crew and the drivers were pleased to reach rank 5 of the class.