The winners of the 46th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen are Jakub 'Kuba' Giermaziak and Christian Krognes. Driving the BMW M4 GT3 of Walkenhorst Motorsport, the duo prevailed in the fourth race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series with a lead of 2:04.759 minutes over Björn Grossmann, Jonathan Hirschi and Luca Ludwig in the Ferrari 296 GT3 of the Swiss team octane126. This is already the second win of the season for the team from Melle and BMW is seamlessly continuing the success of the first three events in the second third of the season. Four NLS races have been completed and BMW has won four times. The mix of brands at the top of NLS4 was completed by Maxime Dumarey and Mike David Ortmann, who celebrated the first podium finish for PROsport-Racing's Aston Martin Vantage GT3, in bright sunshine in the Eifel. The Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II from Scherer Sport PHX was flagged off in the other positions, while the fastest Porsche was the Cup 911 of Team Mathol Racing e.V. in fifth place.
Frank Stippler secured pole position in qualifying with the Audi from Scherer Sport PHX in 7:53.112 minutes. However, at the end of the formation lap, the veteran driver had to pit for safety reasons after driving a foreign object into his tyre. Ortmann initially took the lead and defended it until the first pit stop on lap six. The Porsche 911 GT3 R from Huber Motorsport and the Cup Porsche from KKrämer Racing took the lead at times. From lap nine, the eventual winners took over first place and only relinquished it briefly due to different pit strategies.
"This feels incredibly good to have won half of the races so far in the Nürburgring Endurance Series," 'Kuba' beamed after the race. "The car was perfect. And after our bad luck at the 24h race, this is now exactly the right result to start the second third of the season at full throttle." Krognes proved that he has not lost his speed even as a newly minted father: "Our BMW ran like clockwork. And we now have the right set of tyres for all temperatures. The constellation - especially with Cuba - is terrific."
At octane126's premiere with the new Ferrari 296 GT3, Ludwig was very satisfied with second place: "BMW was unbeatable today. But we were also at the start for the first time this year. It went really well for that." Grossmann added: "We worked our way to the front quite well in the race and gained a lot of experience for the upcoming races." The Swiss added a challenge: "There's still some way to go."
"Amazing," beamed third-placed Dumarey at the award ceremony. "Yesterday we were still talking about whether we would manage to set a lap time under eight minutes and maybe finish in the top five. Today we are on the podium and with 7:58.408 minutes we also achieved the second goal. It doesn't get any better than that."
NLS4 was a real thriller in many classes
The GT4 class SP10 was decided by a gap of just 2.299 seconds. In the Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT4, Aris Balanian, Florian Weber and Ace Robey delivered a thrilling finish to Michael Tischner, Uwe Kleen and Heiko Tönges in the Toyota Supra GT4 of TOYO TIRES with Ring Racing. It was not until the last lap that the BMW took the lead. The Grenzland race was also close in the fiercely contested VT2-FWD class. At the finish, just 2.551 seconds separated the I30N Fastback of Hyundai Driving Experience and the i30N of Zierau Hochvolt by Mertens Motorsport. The finish was also close in the same class for front- and all-wheel-drive vehicles. Adrenalin Motorsport Team Motec edged out FK Performance Motorsport by 6.876 seconds. With their fourth victory, Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg and Philipp Leisen defended first place in the drivers' standings. The same feat was achieved by Sven Markert, Nils Steinberg and Yanick Fübrich in the BMW M240i Racing Cup, making the double lead in the standings perfect for Adrenalin Motorsport. Steinberg also leads the medienkraftwerk Junior Trophy of the NLS after four races. The team around Matthias Unger is also ahead in four classes in the NIMEX Team Trophy.
Family festival in glorious weather
Bright sunshine attracted countless families to the Nürburgring, who enjoyed not only the thrilling motorsport of the NLS but also the entertainment offered by the tradition-steeped series. Skye & Chase from Paw Patrol and the new Nürburgring mascot 'Legend' made the eyes of the young fans sparkle. In the starting grid and later at the Brünnchen section of the circuit, the Red Bull DJ-Mobile created a party atmosphere. And with burgers, selected coffee specialities and hot waffles, the paddock, which is accessible to all ticket holders at the NLS, invited visitors to linger.
In three weeks' time, the NLS will move on to the next round. The ROWE 6h ADAC Ruhr Cup Race is the next highlight of the endurance season on 8 July. Tickets are available for 20 euros (children up to 14 years free of charge) at vln.de/tickets and at the box offices. This will get you into the open grandstands at the Grand Prix circuit, the exclusive spectator areas Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten as well as the paddock, the pit lane, the starting grid and the motorsport experience museum ring°werk.