The #34 Advan-backed Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3 of Jakub Giermaziak and Jesse Krohn won the second NLS race of the season yesterday in mixed conditions on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
The BMW finished up just 21 seconds ahead of the pole-sitting #21 Rutronik Racing Porsche of Matteo Cairoli and Julien Andlauer after four hours of entertaining racing, and 28 seconds clear of the #44 BMW Junior Team M4 GT3 of Dan Harper, Neil Verhagen and Max Hesse that made it a double podium for the Bavarian brand.
For the SP9 GT3 runners, it was a hotly-contested affair between the 30 cars on the entry, all using the race as valuable track time ahead of the upcoming Nürburgring 24 Hours.
In qualifying on Saturday morning, the top 18 cars were separated by less than 10 seconds, with Cairoli pacing the field in the Rutronik Porsche. It was then close in the race, as even with mixed conditions that caused many teams to make a gamble at the start by using slicks on a wet track, the top 18 runners all finished on the lead lap.
The #12 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed with drivers Adam Christodoulou, Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller took an early lead but couldn’t hold on and eventually fell to 10th, before Giermaziak snatched the top spot on lap two. The Manthey Porsche also led early in the race, before Walkenhorst’s #34 took full control, going on to lead 17 of the 27 laps.
“These mixed conditions just suit me,” said Giermaziak after the race. “Maybe that’s also because I’ve been concentrating exclusively on the Nürburgring Endurance Series for the last two years. Besides that, we always made the right tyre choice and had a perfect strategy in the end.”
The Pole did however take a snipe at some of the other teams in the class, and accused some of them of sandbagging. “That’s always the case before the 24h Race,” he said. “Some teams don’t want to reveal their capabilities. We, on the other hand, just drove full throttle.”
Behind, the best of the Porsche teams, Rutronik, was satisfied with second place. “We are very happy,” said Cairoli. “We already worked very consistently during the test on Friday and improved our setup step by step. So I felt very comfortable in our Porsche, especially in the morning qualifying. With an almost perfect car and a bit of luck in the Code 60 phases, we were able to finish on the podium.”
Verhagen was also pleased with the final result for BMW Junior Team, which spent the race on a recovery drive and came away with a set of trophies.
“Our qualifying wasn’t perfect with seventh place, then at the start I lost a few more places, so we dropped back to P16,” he said. “After that, we drove strong stints and worked our way forward. But in the end – admittedly – we also benefited from a penalty imposed on the third-placed Falken Porsche. Otherwise, it would on our own have been very tight with the podium.”
Falken’s #3 992-spec Porsche also spent the race climbing the order, and was on course to finish in the top three but ended up fourth. A penalty handed to the team for Alessio Picariello hitting a car in traffic proved costly. The Manthey EMA Porsche was classified fifth, with ROWE’s #98 BMW sixth.
The best-placed Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II was the #15 Audi Sport Team Scherer PHX. The top 10 was completed by Audi Sport Team Land, the second Falken Porsche (#4) and the GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG of Christodoulou, Götz and Schiller.
The victory in the Am classification of SP9 went to Maxime Dumarey and Christoph Breuer in the #124 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of PROsport Racing that crossed the line 22nd overall. The best Pro-Am SP9 drivers were Charles Espenlaub and Shane Lewis in CP Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3, finishing 25th.
Meanwhile, ROWE’s #99 BMW, which won NLS1, didn’t make the finish, as Philipp Eng had an off at Flugplatz on Lap 1 forcing the car into retirement. Another notable incident involved the #9 GetSpeed Mercedes of Jules Gounon, the Frenchman had an incident in traffic which resulted in him being taken to hospital.
Thankfully, he posted an update on his Instagram page confirming that he is ok.
“Just a small text to say that I’m fine after a big crash in NBR today, some misunderstanding with a slow car and unfortunately lost the car while trying to avoid him,” he said.
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“Feeling sore but vitals looks ok. I can say thanks to a very strong Mercedes AMG car and the great safety onboard.
“Thanks for all the messages already and sorry for GetSpeed, Maro Engel and Dani Juncadella today!”
The Nürburgring Endurance Series returns in two weeks. The 54th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy will conclude the first third of the season on April 15th 2023.
RACE RESULT >>
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed
