Dennis Olsen: "Today was about adapting to the situation"

One of the stars of VLN3 was Dennis Olsen. The driver of the number 12 Manthey Racing Porsche 991 GT3R did a monster triple stint of nearly 4 hours, only forfeiting a complete solo race to let co-driver Otto Klohs get in his single lap needed to be classified. The duo finished a well-deserved second place.

“It was really good fun,” Dennis Olsen says.

“The conditions were tricky, dangerous, cool, a bit of everything! At one point there was so much water on the track that I was aquaplaning at 80-90 kph. I told the team that it’s too risky and I slowed down and the lap after I saw five or six cars in the wall, so it was a good decision.”

Starting from 13th on the grid, Olsen worked his way up during the early stages. With an hour to go, he took the lead in front of Porsche works driver Richard Lietz in the number 912 Manthey Racing Porsche 991.2 GT3R.

“That was cool. I was watching Lietz in my mirrors, he was always there after I came out of the pits. I made a gap, he came back, I made a gap again and he again came close. We were trying to sort out the traffic. We were really close and I also made a cool overtake on him, so it was good!”

After his moment of fame in front of the field, Olsen entered the pits at the start of the final lap to allow car owner and gentleman racer Klohs his mandatory lap.

“This was the plan. When we came here this weekend we didn’t expect to be leading and fight for the win.

“We are in the previous generation Porsche GT3R and in the conditions that we had today it makes the difference to the new car smaller. It’s more up to managing the tyres, finding the grip on the track and the driving itself, and therefore we could fight with the other guys.

“For me, I’m super happy, I didn’t even think about having to pit on the last lap because I knew I did a good job – I led the race.”

Three Porsches completed the podium before a time-penalty for the number 911 Manthey Porsche moved Black Falcon into third place. Although it seems like a Porsche dominance, Olsen says car performance was not the name of the game today.

“The weather was so crazy: It was so wet at some point, and then it was dry again.

“Today it was all about tactics and keeping your head cool, trying to manage the situation as well as possible. It had nothing to do with the performance of the car, really, it was about adapting to the situation.”

Olsen will return with Klohs for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. The drivers quartet is completed by Lars Kern and Matteo Cairoli.

“I have to thank Manthey as well. It’s fantastic that we’re P1, 2 and 3. This is special and great, a big congratulations to everybody. I’m looking forward to the 24 Hours.”