NEWS: Pictures & Report of VLN Round 1

See a load of great images from our man at the Ring, Jochen of Frozenspeed of the first 2013 VLN race  from last weekend – including the unveiling of Peugeot's 208 GTi T16 racer (pictured), the world premiere of the Aston Rapide S with Hydrogen technology (with AM boss, Dr Ulrich Bez at the helm), a debut for the Hyundai Veloce, not to mention our good pal, Sabine Schmitz's new Porsche 911 GT3 R getting on pole! Go Sabine!
It was a packed grid, with some 216 cars entering the race, which was won by the white Schubert (factory entry) BMW Z4 #19 won, driven by Joerg Muller, Dirk Muller and Augusto Farfus. That beast Bimmer is a total weapon.
Speaking of weapons, the 24-Hr winning yellow and green cult car that is the Manthey Racing 911 GT3 RSR also made its comeback to VLN after a year of abscence and finished in 6th place.
The top six were:

1. Schubert Z4
2. Timbuli GT3 R
3. Schubert Z4
4. Timbuli GT3 R
5. Alzen Z4
6. Manthey RSR
So, three BMW Z4s and three 911 GT3 R in the top places, proving they are the cars to beat this year, in VLN and the 24-Hour? A thrilling season awaits.
As usual, the VLN is loaded with diversity and heritage, and it was great to see the Phoenix Audi R8 with the Stuck family at the helm, with Ferdinand Stuck and Johannes Stuck (sons of the infamous Hans-Joachim Stuck) teaming up with Luca Ludwig. And also making a name for itself was Gran Turismo's Kazunori Yamauchi in the new R35 Nismo GT-R GT3; a mean looking, great sounding, quick (and thirsty) machine.

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