Thick fog was still wafting in the Eifel valleys around the Nürburgring when race director Jürgen Seidel called the participants of the fifth RCN GLP of the 2023 season early Saturday morning for the obligatory drivers' briefing. Of course, he not only explained the GLP driving tasks, but also addressed the special weather conditions. After the rainfalls of the night, the track of the Nürburgring Nordschleife was still wet and therefore unpredictable for the 115 registered GLP participants. But just in time for the start of the RCN GLP Rhein-Ruhr of the AC Oberhausen in the ADAC, the fog had lifted and Jürgen Seidel could send the teams onto the legendary race track. 

For Jutta Steinbrück-Weiß and Dirk Weiß from Usingen (Audi S6 plus) as well as for the rookies Peter Schlingmann and Jan Tax (Celle) in the VW Golf I the GLP run started with a bang. Despite the not yet optimal track conditions, both teams piloted their cars so skillfully around the Nordschleife that the timekeeping recorded a zero-fault lap each at the end of their first confirmation. They were followed at this early stage by Juan Alberto Bermejo Munoz and Susanne Denecke (Gifhorn) in the Lancia 831 ABO in P2 with 0.2 fault points.

As the event progressed, the track dried out. First the ideal line, then also the damp places in the shade of the trees. At the tank lap, the half time of each GLP, the following picture emerged. On P5 were Marcus and Kurt Bernards with 2,6 points. The father/son team competing for the MSC Langenfeld in the ADAC moved the Peugeot 196 unspectacularly, but very reliably and safely through the Eifel. At this point, the best-placed rookie team, Sebastian Anding and Nadine Philipp (Blaufelden) with their Honda Accord, was already in fourth place with 2.3 points. The red Mini JCW with Winfried and Karin Schlüter (Horstmar) was third with 1.8 points, just behind Falk and Monika Mellentin (Mönchengladbach) who were P2 in the BMW 318 ti with 1.6 points. At the top, however, with only 0.9 points from three confirmation rounds, was the father/son team Oliver and Udo von Fragstein (Leichlingen/Leverkusen), who were used to success, with their black Ford Puma.

In the second half of the GLP Rhein-Ruhr there should be some changes in the rankings. However, it was noticeable that various teams were able to perform better with the now more pleasant conditions. Stefan Jacobs (Aachen) and Justin Schumacher (Hennef), for example, who have already won the rookie classification three times this season, collected a whopping 10.4 fault points in the first half of the fifth race. Even the zero-fault result in the final confirmation round could not move their ranking into the usual front range. 13.7 points (3.4/2.2/4.8/0.5/2.8/0.0) were enough for sixth place in the rookie standings and twentieth place in the daily standings. It was a similar story for Patrick Gierlich (Rheinbach) and Ralf Schreiber (Schleiden). 11.1 points in the first two confirmation laps and then top laps non-stop. At the finish, the Nissan Sunny team was rated P19 with 3.6 points (5.1/6.0/0.5/1.2/0.5/0.3). Another example are René and Tina Göbbels (Eschweiler) who start for MSC Wahlscheid. With their VW Golf 2 they collected more points in the first confirmation round than in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth together. In the end, they added up 8.8 points (3.4/2.1/0.9/0.9/0.4/1.1), which resulted in eleventh place.

Tenth place was secured by Micheal Dedekind and Sandra Meier (both Landshut) with 8.4 points (3.3/2.0/0.4/0.5/0.9/1.3) in the BMW E46 M3, which is always wonderful to look at.

The ninth-placed drivers were the only ones in the top 10 to manage a zero lap. At the finish, Jörg Wenzel (Langenfeld) and Uwe Knipp (Essen) in the Subaru Imprezza had 7.7 points (3.4/0.6/0.3/2.8/0.0/0.6) under their belt.

Steven and Jennifer Ostrowski from Essen are always good for one of the front places. This time they finished in eighth place with 7.5 points (1.3/1.1/2.0/0.3/1.6/1.2) in the husky AMG Mercedes A45.

One of the few teams that did better in the first GLP half than in the second were Winfried and Karin Schlüter. With their red Mini JCW (starting number 4) they reached P7 this time with 7.1 points (0.8/0.7/0.3/2.0/3.0/0.3).

With 5.9 points (0.3/2.3/0.9/0.6/0.3/1.5), the second best rookie team, Gregor Starck and Kalin Rashey (both Kaiserslautern) in Suzuki Swift, placed a good sixth.

Between two newcomers, landed the GLP veteran Andrea and Rolf Derscheid (Much) in the Opel Corsa A. For the couple, who start for the MSC Wahlscheid in the ADAC, 5.4 points (1.4/0.6/1.3/0.9/0.8/0.4) were enough for P5.
Sebastian Anding and Nadine Philipp were able to defend their good placing from the first GLP half. 5.1 points (1.2/0.9/0.2/1.8/0.4/0.6) after crossing the finish line meant not only fourth place for the two from Blaufelden but also victory in the rookie classification.

And the first three podium places? Anyone who would have predicted third place for Paul Gorolll (Waltenhofen) and Christoph Schlangenhaufen (Grenchen) would certainly have had clairvoyant powers. But the two Fiesta drivers were the big surprise at the 5th GLP round of the season with 5.0 penalty points (0.6/0.4/2.4/1.0/0.1/0.5).

A little less surprising was P2 of Falk and Monika Mellentin from Mönchengladbach. After one tenth, one eighth and two third places this season, the couple competing for the DAMC 05 in the ADAC again showed their qualities with 4.2 points (0.3/0.2/1.1/0.7/0.8/1.1). 

Better were only Oliver and Udo von Fragstein. Sovereignly and with an enormous "evenness" they circled the Nürburg. Their confirmation laps showed no major outliers, the deviations from the set time were only between 0.02 and 0.05 seconds. With only 2.3 penalty points (0.3/0.2/0.4/0.5/0.5/0.4) at the finish, the successful father/son team once again deservedly secured the day's victory.

In the team classification this time the "Ü30er" (von Fragstein / von Fragstein, Ostrowski /Ostrowski, Bernards / Bernards, Will / Anhuth as well as Geibert / Fasel) won with 28.16 points ahead of the "Team Null Runde" (Schlüter / Schlüter, Dedekind / Meier and Ezaru / Ezaru) with 27.11 points. Third was the team of the MSC Wahlscheid in the ADAC (Derscheid / Derscheid, Göbbels / Göbbels, Vosen / Vosen, Scholl / Scholl and Dahlhäuser / Dahlhäuser) with 26.32 points.

    
Current info: www.rcn-glp.de
Next GLP dates:
08.10.2023 6th run "Erftquellenpreis" (Nordschleife m. short track)
27.10.2023 7th run "Klingentrophy" (GP track)