BMW Junior Team’s #44 M4 GT3 powered to victory in last weekend’s NLS3 at the Nordschleife, Daniel Harper, Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen finishing 16 seconds ahead of Marco Wittmann and Maxime Martin’s #99 ROWE BMW which made it a 1-2 for the Bavarian brand.
This victory means the M4 GT3 has won all three NLS races so far this season. BMW Junior Team is also the third BMW team to win a race this year, after ROWE and Walkenhorst won the previous encounters.
The BMW Junior Team M4 took control of the race after making a move for the lead on the 11th lap of the race, after spending the opening laps of the race in the leading group. After that it only relinquished the lead briefly twice to the #3 Falken Motorsports Porsche of Nico Menzel, Sven Müller and Martin Ragginger in pit cycles.
“It was definitely a good race,” said Hesse. “We had good pace from this morning and were also well positioned in the qualifying. All three of us were very happy with the car. The team and BMW M Motorsport have done a good job. The race went very well.
“We had a few difficulties at the beginning, but we were then able to move back into the front. The conditions in the last two laps were a bit difficult, but we’re very happy with our win in the end.”
Completing the podium was Christopher Mies, Christopher Haase and Patric Niederhauser in the #39 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II of Audi Sport Team Land Motorsport.
“It was difficult to find a rhythm because there were so many incidents and Code 60 phases. But from a performance point of view, we can be satisfied. In the end, BMW had a bit more luck today,” Mies said.
Just off the podium was the #98 ROWE Racing BMW, which started the race from pole.
The Frikadelli Racing Team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 came home sixth. behind the #3 Falken Porsche, on what was a significant day for Ferrari’s new GT3 challenger. Further down the order, Racing One finished 13th overall, but first in the Pro-Am SP9 category, scoring the car its first victory globally.
Elsewhere in the SP10 category for GT4 cars, KCMG claimed its first-ever NLS win, with its Toyota Supra GT4 EVO. With drivers Joshua Burdon, Edoardo Liberati and Martin Rump, the racing team from Hong Kong prevailed over the BMW team FK Performance Motorsport, finishing with a winning margin of over a minute, having taken the lead in the class on the opening lap.
“I’m so happy for the entire team,” said Paul Ip, KCMG’s team owner. “We’ve been proving the pace of the Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO all season, so to now take victory is a great feeling. We’ve been building at each event and this is perfect preparation for the Nürburgring 24 Hours next month. All three drivers showed good pace and clearly, the crew knows how to get the best out of this car, so we’ll look to continue this momentum into the Qualifiers this weekend.”
With the Nürburgring 24 Hours edging closer, the NLS season takes a break until June 17th, when the teams will reconvene at the Nordschleife for the 46th DMV Grenzlandrennen.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed, Ferrari & KCMG
