Internal combustion engine for a motor vehicle, having a control unit for aligning a camshaft and method for operating such an internal combustion engine

An internal combustion engine for a motor vehicle, comprising:

• a crankshaft;
• a camshaft;
• a cylinder;
• a piston movably disposed in the cylinder and coupled to the crankshaft for driving the crankshaft;
• a first gas exchange valve which is assigned to the cylinder;
• a first valve clearance compensation device, wherein via the first valve clearance compensation device the first gas exchange valve is displaceable between a first open position and a first closed position by a first cam of the camshaft;
• a shaft positioning mechanism configured to position the camshaft;
• and
• a control unit configured to control the shaft positioning mechanism so as to align the camshaft, at least during a change of state of the crankshaft from an operating state in which the crankshaft rotates to an idle state in which the crankshaft is stationary, such that the first valve clearance compensation device is pressure-loaded in the idle state by a plateau area assigned to the first cam to hold the first gas exchange valve in the first open position.