Jody Fannin: "Getting back in the grove of things—it’s gone pretty well"

Jody Fannin was immediately put to work last weekend at the 50. Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy as he joined David Pittard and Christian Krognes on the full-pro #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 for the first time. With pole position and several laps in the lead in the bag, the Brit got in for the middle stint to put Krognes in the position to challenge for the win, eventually finishing third.

RACE REPORT | GALLERY | INTERVIEW MANUEL METZGER | INTERVIEW CHRISTIAN KROGNES | INTERVIEW DAVID PITTARD

With the weather not playing along for the first races of the season, seat-time has been at a premium. However, with titles in British GT4 and the European Le Mans Series under his belt, Fannin didn’t need much to get back up to speed for VLN4.

“Experience in VLN this year has been such a struggle for everyone,” Jody Fannin said. “I did the last race of VLN last year in the M6—that was my first-ever race in the M6. The first round this year I was in the Pro-Am car of Walkenhorst and we managed to win the class, and then I haven’t gotten in the car in VLN2 and 3 so that wasn’t great!

“Coming back after a two-month break and getting back in the car and in the grove of things because I didn’t do the Nürburgring 24 Hours, get back into the rhythm of the circuit—it’s gone pretty well.

“Practice yesterday was interesting: It started raining while on slicks and then it dried out when we were on wets. It was good practice for today as it did actually rain in my stint all the way around, but not quite enough. It was more mental rain than actually making a difference in the grip. Grip-wise you didn’t really notice it; it was more just seeing it on the windscreen and hoping it would grip. But it was all good.

“We were in contention for the win and then unfortunately we lost some time at the last pitstop. I think the pace is there and I’m really looking forward to the 6-hour race and hoping we can do two better.”

Without any other program to divide his attention, it’s all-focus on the Nürburgring and working to be at the start of the Nürburgring 24 Hours next year.

“The races are now closer together, every two or three weeks. It will be nice to get into the grove and get back here again—there’s nothing better than racing around this place. Hopefully we can get on the top-step when we come back.

“To do the Nürburgring 24 Hours will be really good. Racing around here, there’s nothing like it. You can’t really class it as a circuit, you can’t really compare it to anywhere else because it’s just a ribbon of tarmac that sort of angulates up and down. It’s unlike anywhere else. It’s unique in that respect and amazing to drive.”