Max Edelhoff first “Rookie champion of the continents”. Vice championship in class A6-AM.
The last race of the International 24H Series led the team of Car Collection Motorsport from the Rheingau, for the first time in the company’s history to North America. At the HANKOOK 24H COTA in Austin, Texas, the titles for the „Champion of the Continents“ were awarded. The sympathetic team of Peter Schmidt entered the race with three cars of the GT3 class.
In addition to the two Audi R8 LMS GT3, there was still a small surprise for the first deployment on the American continent. Two of the most successful teams in the International 24H Series teamed up for the HANKOOK 24H COTA. The champion team of the past two years, Hofor Racing from Switzerland, as well as Car Collection Motorsport put together a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Michael and Chantal Kroll, Kenneth Heyer, Christiaan Frankenhout and Jörg Viebahn shared the AMG GT3 for the 24-hour race, which was split into two parts. Pierre Ehret, Christian Bollrath, Stefan Aust, Dimitri Parhofer and Peter Schmidt drove the Audi R8 LMS GT3 #33. The „Kirchhoff“-Audi R8 LMS GT3 #34 was driven by Dr. Johannes Kirchhoff, Gustav and Max Edelhoff, Elmar Grimm and Ingo Vogler.
Peter Schmidt: „We are very happy that Michael Kroll and his team place their trust in us and that we form a joint team for HANKOOK 24H COTA. After all, they are the champions of the past two years and here in North America they are still concerned about the intercontinental championship and important points for the internal AMG championship.“
For all 15 drivers, the track in Texas was absolutely uncharted territory. The resident Audi Driving Experience offered the driver the opportunity to explore and get to know the circuit with the road version of the Audi R8 the day before the event.
„Of course it’s a different matter whether you drive over the race track in a road vehicle or in our Audi R8 LMS GT3. But our drivers had the opportunity for a day to explore the specifics of the track. When they went into the first private test session, they no longer needed to concentrate on where to go, they could immediately work on their line, as well as the braking and turning points. Our thanks go to Audi Driving Experience for this opportunity!“, said Denis Ferlemann.
Since it was the first 24-hour race on the Texas circuit, the race had to be divided into two parts for noise protection reasons. On Saturday the race goes 14 hours, on Sunday 10 hours. The best starting position for the race was secured by the Mercedes-AMG GT3 #1. Christiaan Frankenhout started from position 6, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 #33 with Pierre Ehret started from 11th place, followed directly by Elmar Grimm in the „Kirchhoff“-Audi R8 LMS GT3 #34.
Already in the second hour the first setback for the team from Walluf. The Audi R8 LMS GT3 #33 rolls with a broken drive shaft to the box. An unusual damage, it was the first of its kind, because the drive shaft was newly installed before the race. After a 30-minute repair Stefan Aust went back into the race. Meanwhile, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 # 34 is in second place in the A6-AM class. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 # 1 is on position 6 in the overall standings. In the 7th hour Kenneth Heyer reported an accident by radio. Out of the first corner, he suddenly lost the tail. He turned and hit the guard hard. Still have the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the box to drag back, but stepped out too much cooling water. Back in the box, the damage was assessed, but quickly found that a repair would take too long. So you have to park the vehicle prematurely.
The first part of the race ended the „Kirchhoff“ Audi R8 LMS GT3 #34 in first place in the class A6-AM. The Audi R8 LMS #33 continued without a failure, but the gap from the repair break was already 29 laps. In lap 275 Christian Bollrath reported a technical problem. With smoke, he parked the vehicle. Thus, the race for Ehret, Bollrath, Aust, Parhofer and Schmidt was prematurely ended. The five drivers Kirchhoff, Edelhoff, Edelhoff, Grimm and Vogler continued to lead the class A6-AM. With a flawless race and perfect pit stops, they finally won the class and finished the race in an excellent 4th place in the overall standings.
Youngster Max Edelhoff crowned himself the first „Rookie Champion of the Continets“ with this victory. In the team ranking Car Collection Motorsport secured the vice-championship of all GT3 vehicles as well as in the underestimation of the class A6-AM.
„That was of course the famous icing on the cake of a very good season,“ said Max Edelhoff. „Of course, everyone wishes for such a conclusion to the season. And without such strong teammates I would not be rookie champion again. I can only thank all those who contributed to it.“, Edelhoff continues the successful season.
Peter Schmidt adds: „For Car Collection Motorsport it was the most successful season since its founding. We were on the podium with at least one vehicle in every race of the International 24H Series. Also in the ADAC Zurich 24H race, we took second place and took podium finishes at the VLN. So we stood on the podium 12 times and three times on top. In addition, the overall victory in the HANKOOK 12H IMOLA. An absolutely fantastic year. Many thanks to my entire team, you have done a great job! „
Now there is a race break for the team from the Rheingau. However, work is already being done on the new season.
„We’ve had good talks so far on the 2018 season and are optimistic about expanding our race calendar. We remain loyal to the 24H Series and the VLN. We also plan to return to the Blancpain GT Series or the ADAC GT Masters. Furthermore, we are in negotiations for enter in the GT4 European Series“, explains Denis Ferlemann on the previous season.
It continues with the HANKOOK 24H DUBAI from 11th to 13th January 2018. Here, two Audi R8 LMS GT3 cars start for the team around Peter Schmidt.
