Walkenhorst Motorsport opens the season on the Nordschleife

Walkenhorst Motorsport will kick off this year’s racing season at the season opener of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie.

The 70th ADAC Westfalenfahrt marks the start of the circuit season in German GT and endurance racing. Walkenhorst Motorsport will be competing in the four-hour race with an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and a production-based Hyundai i30N. 

‘We have been preparing intensively for this year’s Nordschleife season over the winter months and are very much looking forward to the start of the season,’ says Managing Director Jörg Breuer. ‘At the first NLS race, we will be focussing on testing the data-based findings from the winter months in practice and using them for future outings on the Nordschleife. We will provide more details of our Nordschleife programme for the rest of the year at a later date – but I can promise that we will be back on the Nordschleife with more GT3 and GT4 cars during the season.’

The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of the team from Melle in Lower Saxony will start in the SP9 Pro-Am class. In addition to team founder Henry Walkenhorst, long-standing Walkenhorst Motorsport driver Christian Krognes, who was recently appointed as an Aston Martin factory driver, will take the wheel of the car.

‘I’m really looking forward to competing on the Nordschleife again for the first time since last year’s 24-hour race,’ said Henry Walkenhorst, full of anticipation. ’Everyone at Walkenhorst Motorsport is also excited that Christian will be contesting his first race as a factory driver for us, after being a fast and integral part of our team for many years.’

Walkenhorst Motorsport will again compete with the Hyundai i30N with permit candidates in the VT2-FWD class. Fabio Scherer, who won the LMP2 class at the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours, will compete again on the Nordschleife after driving for Walkenhorst Motorsport in last year’s season finale. He will be joined by Canadian Josh Hansen to drive the car. Hansen will complete his permit races in the first two NLS races and then line up in the team’s Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in NLS3, the ADAC 24-hour qualifiers and the 24-hour race. American Gino Manley, who has competed in the strong Michelin Pilot Challenge in his home country, among other things, completes the trio of drivers.

The 70th ADAC Westfalenfahrt gets under way at 12:00 on Saturday. The drivers will be out in qualifying at 8:30 am to determine their grid positions. Teams and drivers will have an opportunity to test on Friday, when they will be out on the Nordschleife for the first time this year and will be able to see for themselves the effect of the asphalt work carried out during the winter months. Fans can follow the race action of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie around the legendary race track and on the official live stream of the racing series on YouTube.