As this event does not count towards the Championnat de France Endurance VHC, some teams have preferred to stay on vacation rather than stretch their legs on this superb track. The Challenge Endurance VHC competitors will be racing alongside those in the Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme. Comparison of the times set by the historic racers shows that the mix will be quite balanced and the thrill of overtaking the more modern carss should add a little spice for those behind the wheels of the classics.
The Challenge provisional classification shows a minute gap of one point between the first and second teams and the same gap between the seconds and thirds. No doubt wishing to spice up their end-of-season, leaders Bernard Moreau and Miguel Langin, have quite simply decided to skip this event, leaving the field open to their rivals. Their absence could turn against them towards the end of the Challenge robbing them of a final win or even a place on the podium, quite apart from the fact that they will not be enjoying the pleasure of racing their Porsche 996 RSR on this magnificent circuit.
There are a multitude of wannabees behind them there in Germany, such as the current second-placed Philippe Nozière, finding his racing feet after his successful performance at the Spa Francorchamps 24-Hours. He will be sharing the drive of the Porsche 997 Cup N°50 with his usual team-mate, Rémy Brouard, who is lying eighth following his absence at Magny-Cours due to taking over his new function as director-general of the ACO, during the preliminary practice drives for the Le Mans 24-Hours.
The Mégane Trophy N°80 of Guillaume Rousseau and Christophe Lemée has a good chance of starting at the EuroSpeedway in the lead of the Challenge. After a poor performance at Dijon in the rain, both drivers are highly motivated to open up a good lead before the final rush to drive the car, prepared by Rencar, to an end of season win. A win on Porsche home ground would be a well-deserved reward for the whole team.
Running a magnificent Porsche 997 Cup S N°15 built especially for the Endurance category by the Stuttgart factory, Belgians Christian Kelders and Philippe Greisch will be trying to make up ground aiming at a place on the provisional podium. The reigning champions, Jean-Paul Pagny and Pierre Benoist, should create a sensation on this track behind the wheel of their Ferrari F430 N°1, now that they have solved the oil pressure problem which has dogged their car for the last three events. They will have the support of the very fast Thierry Perrier who had already given them a helping hand at the « 2007 Estoril 6-Hours» when they took the title.
The Porsche 996 RS prepared by Nourry Compétition N°48 driven by Philippe Baudinière and Joël Vicaire or the RSR version of the BF Racing stable, N°193 with Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour at the wheel, will certainly be making the most of the German circuit and should move up in classification.
Heading the ASP Compétition team, Philippe Ullmann, will be teamed up with his usual co-driver, Gérard Tremblay, in the team's Maserati GT4 N°82. Didier Van Straaten will be on hand to give them a hand. They will be up against some of the best in the category, Jean-Marc Bachelier and Eric Vincenot with their fabulous Porsche 993 RSR N°64 which looks a likely winner after its scratch podium at Dijon. The Porsche Cayman S N°27 of Eric Havette is continuing to improve its set-up in this category.
Eric Van de Vyver is sure to make the most of this race to move into the « top 10 » with the Touring Cup N°11 he will be sharing with Guillaume Maillard. Then the Rock Media Motors stable is entering its Pagani Zonda GR N°59 with an old hand in the Endurance Proto grid, boss of G-Cat Racing, Greg Caton, who will providing support to the two Czech drivers Antonin Herbeck and Michael Vorba. So, variety will be the watch-word, with regulars René Vaysse and Pierre Pelosi driving the Renault Clio RS RVZ Compétition.