ROWE RACING were rewarded with a point for a strong catch-up at the second home event in the Blancpain GT Series at the Nürburgring. After a bungled qualifying session, the team from St. Ingbert started the final race of the Endurance Cup season from 34th and 37th on the grid, but worked their way up into tenth and 15th place.
The two ROWE RACING regular drivers and BMW works drivers Philipp Eng from Austria and Alexander Sims from Great Britain, who this time received support from Dutchman Nick Catsburg in their BMW M6 GT3 with #99, made up a total of 27 places on their way to the final spot in the points. However, the winners of the 24 Hours of Spa narrowly missed out on third place in the overall standings of the Endurance Cup; with a total of 56 points, they slipped down into fifth place.
In the sister car with #98, the two BMW DTM drivers Martin Tomczyk and Tom Blomqvist made their debut in the ROWE RACING team, alongside Dutchman Stef Dusseldorp. As starting driver, Bavarian Tomczyk, 2011 DTM Champion, made up a total of 17 positions for his crew, nine of these were on the first lap alone. Brit Blomqvist, son of former World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist, brought the BMW M6 GT3 home in 15th place just eight days after his second place in the DTM race at the same track.
ROWE RACING team boss Hans-Peter Naundorf: “The drivers and team did a fantastic job. We didn’t dare dream of delivering such a catch-up and making up so many positions so early on in the race after the unsuccessful qualifying session. At times the boys were really flying. It was sensational that we were able to keep the battle for third place in the drivers’ standings open until the final lap. It was a real nerve-racking race, also for our rivals at Bentley, who held us off with real grit.”
Martin Tomczyk (ROWE RACING BMW M6 GT3 #98): “I drove my first race for ROWE RACING, and it always great for a driver to get to know new structures. Hans-Peter Naundorf has been a familiar face on the motorsport scene for a while, but now I was able to work with him for the first time. It was my second outing in the Blancpain GT Series after Spa, and the racing in this series is really good. I overtook a lot in my stint at the start and saw a lot of action. That shows once again that GT racing is a great deal of fun.”
The Sprint Cup finale will round off the Blancpain GT series, and will be held in Barcelona on 2nd October.