Three beefy GT3 racing cars from Aston Martin, plus a BMW and a Hyundai - Walkenhorst Motorsport will be competing in the four-hour Nürburgring Endurance Series (NES) race on May 4 with a large contingent of five racing cars. “For us, this race is the ideal opportunity to prepare for the 24-hour race,” says Team Principal Niclas Königbauer. After all, NES.02 not only includes qualifying and the race (start: 12:00 noon) on Saturday, but also nine hours of testing on Friday. The team from Melle near Osnabrück, which is managed by Henry Walkenhorst, Niclas Königbauer and Jörg Breuer, is one of the most high-profile German racing teams with national and international successes, including many victories on the demanding Nordschleife.
Brand mix: three Aston Martin, one BMW and one Hyundai
Many things are different for Walkenhorst Motorsport this season. As the new entry team for the glorious British sports car brand Aston Martin, Walkenhorst is fielding three new Aston Martin Vantage GT3s and will be racing them both at NES.02 on the first weekend in May and four weeks later at the 24-hour race. The team is also fielding a BMW M4 GT4 with mainly up-and-coming young racing drivers and a Hyundai i30. The Hyundai is a so-called “permit car” with slightly less power, with which Nordschleife rookies can acquire the two-stage “DMSB Permit Nordschleife”, effectively the “full throttle license” for the Green Hell.
Walkenhorst Motorsport was already involved in the NES.01 test and set-up runs at the end of March. “That was the first time we had driven an Aston Martin on the Nordschleife,” reports Königbauer. “We got into a good rhythm and were able to work specifically on the set-up. Overall, we haven't done that many kilometers with the GT3 yet. Yokohama is also new to us as a tire partner, so we are happy about every opportunity to use them.”
“For us, this race is the ideal opportunity to prepare for the 24-hour race” Niclas Königbauer, Team Principal Walkenhorst Motorsport
International driver line-up - sights set on further Nordschleife outings
“A new partnership is always exciting,” says Königbauer about the collaboration with Aston Martin. “The further developed Vantage has the best prerequisites for fast lap times and maximum reliability, the package works well.” Walkenhorst Motorsport's Pro program, which is run in coordination with Aston Martin, ends with the 24-hour race in 2024. “But even after that, we want to contest more races on the Nordschleife,” says the team boss. “Our initial focus will be on NES.02, then the 24-hour race, and then we'll look further.”
As far as the driver line-up is concerned, the Pro car will probably be driven by works driver Nicki Thiim (DEN) and the two Nordschleife experts Christian Krognes (NOR) and Kuba Giermaziak (POL). For the other two Aston Martin cars, team principal Henry Walkenhorst and fellow Germans Stefan Aust, Christian Bollrath and Anders Buchardt can be counted on in one Vantage, with US driver Chandler Hull and Germans Patrick Assenheimer, Benjamin Mazatis and Mike David Ortmann in the other. “It is not yet clear whether all of them will drive in NES.02. Some have already had enough driving time, so we will probably have three drivers in each of the three cars,” says Königbauer.
More information about the Nürburgring Endurance Series can be found on the official website www.nes.de.