A podium finish in the 24-hour qualification race at the Nürburgring has given ROWE RACING the requisite motivation for the highlight of the season, which awaits them in six weeks’ time on the same circuit: Supported by BMW DTM driver Maxime Martin from Belgium, the BMW works drivers and ROWE RACING favourites Philipp Eng from Austria and Alexander Sims from Great Britain overcame difficult early weather conditions to drive the BMW M6 GT3 with #23 to third place, after six challenging hours of racing. After 41 laps on the Formula 1 circuit and the Nordschleife, the trio were just 2:38 minutes behind the leaders and also recorded the third-fasted lap time. After celebrating the first podium finish in the Blancpain GT Series last week in Misano, this was the first time that the new BMW M6 GT3 had reached the podium on the Nordschleife.
Following pole position on Sunday morning, the three drivers were able to challenge the leading group throughout the race. An over-conservative tyre strategy during a hailstorm in the early phases of the race meant that they were unable to improve on third place. The results in qualifying, and in the race itself, have already guaranteed qualification for the 24-hour race on May 28th/29th for the team from St. Ingbert, an achievement just as important at the podium finish.
The three BMW works drivers in the second ROWE RACING car with #22 had less to celebrate. The experienced Jörg Müller, sharing the second BMW M6 GT3 with DTM driver Marco Wittmann and GT specialist Jens Klingmann, was the innocent party in a first-lap collision that required a long break for repairs. The team was able to use the 29 laps thereafter to collect valuable data with the new race car, recording the fifth-fastest lap time.
ROWE RACING team principal Hans-Peter Naundorf: “No-one would have expected us to still be involved at the front after six hours. We got pole position, which was a success in itself. During the race, we took the safe option, making too many pit stops as we didn’t trust the weather and wanted to make sure that we finished the race. The car has given us a solid base to start from and we were able to try out a few things in the race. That early setback for the second car can happen with such a large field, but we made the best of it. After repairs, all the drivers got a chance to chalk up some kilometres and learn about the new car.“
Maxime Martin: “We improve the car every time we hit the track, and our pole position proves this. We have to pay attention to every detail and continue to learn as much as possible. Recording such fast times here already is a good sign.”
Philipp Eng: “It was a very, very good day. We have made some important changes to the car, which was very easy to drive today and gave the drivers a lot of confidence. The weather conditions were so changeable during the weekend that we tried out all the tyre types, and we were able to test the BMW M6 GT3 in all conditions.”
Alexander Sims: “I am very pleased, as we did a very good job. We had a lot of easy laps at the end, and the BMW M6 GT3 was really fun to drive today. I am looking forward to the 24-hour race and we are in a very good position.”
Next weekend, ROWE RACING will conclude a very busy April with the first endurance race of the Blancpain GT Series, in Monza.