When Phoenix Racing travels to Australia in February to compete in the famous Bathurst 12 Hours with two Audi R8 LMS cars this won’t be the team’s first overseas commitment. In 1999, the debut year of Ernst Moser’s squad, the team embarked on its first big journey after the end of the Super Touring Cup (STW) season. The destination: Macau.
Christmas, the time “between the years”, the start into a new year – for most people this is a time of reflection, a time to lean back and to take a deep breath, to recharge one’s batteries. It is all this for me too. 2011 was an impressive year, but it was also one with a high flat-out share. It was strenuous and challenging over long stretches, I must admit.
Tuesday, 18 October, 2.30 in the afternoon. The thermometer shows only seven degrees, but it actually feels like three. An icy north-westerly wind is blowing and the rain is hitting the face at an angle. The weather at the Dahlemer Binz airfield in the Eifel is extremely unpleasant.
He was practically baptised with petrol, in Adenau, the racing town at the Nürburgring. His parents’ home is within a hearing and viewing distance of the Kallenhardt Nordschleife track section and his own home just a stone’s throw away. The sound of the engines wafting through the air from the “Ring” is music to his ears. Jörg Baldes grew up with motorsport from the day he was born.
The kitchen of his flat in Meuspath was the place where the main items on the agenda were set in in 1998 that would lead to the formation of Phoenix Racing. Ernst Moser had soon inspired Dirk Theimann’s enthusiasm for his project of starting a team of his own. So, the two put their heads together for hours and weeks on end to form Phoenix Racing out of a puzzle consisting of a thousand pieces.
He is considered the source of calm in Team Phoenix Racing who almost never loses his cool. Yet it is not only day-to-day life that has taught him that calm is the source of power. His expertise as a technician and engineer and, most importantly, his immense experience make Jürgen Jungklaus one of the supporting pillars of this small but excellent “Eifel” team in which the 51-year-old has the role of Technical Director. In addition, he is the vehicle engineer for Martin Tomczyk and his Audi A4 DTM.
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It still seems like a dream: Two consecutive victories in the DTM, achieved by Martin Tomczyk, the lead of the driver standings, second place in the team standings for Audi Sport Team Phoenix – that’s simply fabulous. Not to forget that Phoenix Racing has also been able to clinch victories in the ADAC GT Masters and the VLN. It’s not a dream though, it’s reality. And we’re not dreaming either because we don’t even have time for that. After all, events are now happening in rapid succession: The DTM round at Lausitz is followed by the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, and immediately afterwards the DTM classic at the Norisring.
When Phoenix Racing travels to Australia in February to compete in the famous Bathurst 12 Hours with two Audi R8 LMS cars this won’t be the team’s first overseas commitment. In 1999, the debut year of Ernst Moser’s squad, the team embarked on its first big journey after the end of the Super Touring Cup (STW) season. The destination: Macau.