Spectators and teams alike will keep the 12h Nürburgring in mind twice – two thrilling races over 6 hours each, two days of bright sunshine with midsummer temperatures in the middle of September in the Green Hell and a team that took the top step of the podium twice: Christian Krognes and Jakub ‘Kuba’ Giermaziak secured a one-two finish with the BMW M4 GT3 of Walkenhorst Motorsport in races six and seven of the Nürburgring Endurance Series.
“A dream comes true for our team. I don’t think we’ve ever won a doubleheader like this before,” said a delighted Christian Krognes regarding his second overall victory in a row after crossing the finish line at the 62nd ADAC Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen. Team mate Jakub Giermaziak was also fully satisfied after the victorious weekend: “After the 24h Race we needed such a result to confirm ourselves. The last two races were terrific, the car was running great.”
The fact that things were “going great” was not only underlined by the fastest race lap, which Krognes and Giermaziak burned into the asphalt of the legendary Nordschleife with a time of 7:56.743 minutes, but also applied to the entire Walkenhorst team on Sunday. For the crew from Melle in Lower Saxony was able to celebrate another podium result for the sister car with number 35 in addition to the BMW with number 34. With a gap of just under three minutes, Niklas Krütten and Dylan Pereira finished second in their BMW M4 GT3. “After some technical problems in yesterday’s race, everything went well today. We didn’t encounter any problems, the car and the tyres coped well with the heat. Everything was as it should be – and now I want to celebrate our second place,” Pereira summed up.
In addition to the two strong BMWs, the driver trio Maxime Dumarey, Christoph Breuer and Marek Böckmann surprisingly made it also onto the podium with the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 from PROsport-Racing. The drivers of the Pro-Am car were correspondingly happy. “I don’t even know what to say. My goal was to fight for victory in the Pro-Am, now we’re on the overall podium! I have to sleep on it again and pinch myself once more,” said Böckmann, overjoyed.
The championship remains exciting
In the overall standings after now seven of a total of nine races in the Nürburgring Endurance Series, the main protagonists are also overjoyed. Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Philipp Leisen have collected the maximum number of points. 37 error-free laps once again secured class victory for the number 1 BMW 330i. The title could only be in danger if the regular winners from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport continue to score full points in the Cup3. Taking into account two dropped results, Heiko Eichenberg, Fabio Grosse and Patrik Grütter would be on a par with the Adrenalin trio. However, two more wins are needed – the last two races will decide.
In two weeks’ time, the battle for championship points and the final spurt of the popular long-distance series will be on again on the combination of the Grand Prix circuit’s sprint version and the Nordschleife. On 23 September, the 55th edition of the ADAC Barbarossapreis will take place in the Green Hell.
