The 12h Nürburgring will be remembered twice by spectators and teams alike - 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 landed at the top of the podium twice: Christian Krognes and Jakub 'Kuba' Giermaziak secured the double victory in races six and seven of the Nürburgring Endurance Series in the BMW M4 GT3 from Walkenhorst Motorsport.
"It's a dream come true for our team. I don't think we've ever won a doubleheader like this before," said a delighted Christian Krognes after crossing the finish line at the 62nd ADAC Reinoldus endurance race to claim his second overall victory in a row. Fellow driver 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 ran super."
That it "ran super" was not only shown by the fastest race lap that Krognes and Giermaziak burned into the asphalt of the legendary Nordschleife with a time of 7:56.743 minutes, but that applied to the entire Walkenhorst team on Sunday. Because the crew from Melle in Lower Saxony was able to cheer not only the BMW with start number 34 but also the sister car with number 35 on the podium. Just under three minutes behind, Niklas Krütten and Dylan Pereira finished second in their BMW M4 GT3. "After technical problems in yesterday's race, everything went well today. We didn't get into trouble, the car and the tires 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 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 are on the overall podium! I'll have to sleep on it again and pinch myself again," Böckmann said, overjoyed.
In the overall standings, there are also overjoyed drivers after now seven of a total of nine races in the Nürburgring Endurance Series. Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Philipp Leisen scored the maximum number of points. 37 faultless laps once again secured class victory for the number 1 BMW 330i. The title could only be in danger if the series winners from SRS Team Sorg Rennsport continue to score full points in Cup3. Including two strike 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 just two weeks' time, the combination of the sprint version of the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife will once again be used for championship points and at the same time for the final spurt of the popular endurance series. On September 23, the 55th edition of the ADAC Barbarossapreis will take place in the Green Hell.