Walkenhorst Motorsport chasing first victory at the 24-hour Nürburgring race

Walkenhorst Motorsport will be competing in the ADAC RAVENOL 24-hour Nürburgring race with five cars – with a strong line-up of drivers, the team from Melle is chasing its first victory in the endurance classic in the Eifel.

The 24-hour race at the Nürburgring has been one of the absolute highlights in Walkenhorst Motorsport’s racing calendar since the team was founded. However, while the team has already enjoyed numerous successes in the NLS, Walkenhorst Motorsport has so far been denied a top result in the endurance classic in the Eifel. The Aston Martin team is looking to change that in this year’s edition with a strong line-up.

‘Our speed was evident in this year’s preparatory races, and we are now working on translating that into the 24-hour race and achieving a top result in the 24-hour race for the first time in our history,’ explains team founder Henry Walkenhorst. ‘We are also delighted to be fielding a special charity car for the RTL charity marathon, and it is a great honour for me to be able to drive it myself!’

The four Aston Martin factory drivers Mattia Drudi, Christian Krognes, David Pittard and Nicki Thiim will be driving the top car with start number #34. Pittard and Thiim have already won the popular endurance race, bringing important experience to the team. Mattia Drudi is fresh from a top result at Le Mans, and Christian Krognes is a sure bet as the current lap record holder on the Nordschleife and a long-time Walkenhorst driver. The car already showed good speed in the preparatory races in the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie and only missed out on victory in NLS2 due to a penalty at the end of the race. 

“I can promise our fans that we will arrive at the Ring well prepared and full of anticipation. Our goal is clear: we want to win this race for the first time! After our good preparatory races, with a strong driver line-up and the support of Aston Martin Racing, we are optimistic that we will be fighting for a top result! Now it’s all about not making any mistakes and putting our performance into practice in qualifying and in the race,” said Jörg Breuer, Managing Director of Walkenhorst Motorsport.

The team will field another Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the SP9 Pro-Am class. Nico Hantke, who put in a strong performance for the Melle-based team in last year’s ADAC GT Masters, returns to WMS and will contest the traditional race for the first time in a GT3 car. Oliver Söderström, who completed his Permit A at the start of the season and impressed with fast lap times in the ADAC 24h Qualifiers, and Norwegian veteran Anders Buchardt will be his team-mates. The fourth driver will be factory driver Christian Krognes, who will be able to pass on important tips and tricks to the three drivers with his experience. The fast Norwegian will be driving two cars, with his main focus primarily on the top car. With its strong driver line-up, the team aims to play a major role in the sub-classification and fight for a top position.

The team’s SP9 Am car will be on the grid as a special art car. An extraordinary charity campaign has been launched to mark the 30th anniversary of the RTL charity marathon. The „Stiftung RTL – Wir helfen Kindern e. V.“, the Nationale Automuseum – The Loh Collection, the Automobilclub von Deutschland (AvD) and JP Performance have teamed up with Walkenhorst Motorsport to design an Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which will be the team’s third GT3 car with the start number 30 – fitting for this year’s RTL charity marathon anniversary. Henry Walkenhorst, Jörg Breuer, Stefan Aust and Christian Bollrath will be driving the Aston Martin.

Donors can have their digital signature immortalised on the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for a minimum donation of 30 euros. These will then be transferred to the vehicle as part of the design. Up to 30,000 signatures are possible. While the image of the charity car is doing its laps on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, fans can admire the original vehicle in the paddock and also make their donations there. Walkenhorst Motorsport will also be represented with the racing car at the Adenauer Racing Day on Wednesday to further promote the fundraising campaign.

Walkenhorst Motorsport’s Aston Martin entry will be rounded off by the Vantage GT4 Evo in the SP10 class for homologated GT4 cars. Aris Balanian, Josh Hansen, Hermann Vortkamp and Jean-Christophe David will take turns in the cockpit of the car. This will be the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo’s first outing in the Nürburgring 24-hour race. The preparatory races went very promisingly, so the driver pairing has good chances of achieving a top result in the class over the distance. 

In the VT2 FWD class, the racing team will also be fielding a production-based Hyundai i30N. Walkenhorst Motorsport is competing in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring for the first time with the touring car. Niklas Abrahamsen, who most recently drove the GT4 Aston Martin in the NLS, American Tazio Ottis and Bennet Ehrl, who already has a lot of experience with the Hyundai, will be behind the wheel of the Korean compact car. Sarah Ganser, who already has experience on the Nürburgring Nordschleife with VT2 and TCR cars, will be the fourth driver in the Hyundai. Ganser will be competing for Walkenhorst Motorsport for the first time and, like her three colleagues, will be taking part in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring for the first time.

‘The ADAC Ravenol 24-hour race at the Nürburgring is one of our highlights of the year. This year, we are starting with one of our largest line-ups ever and are highly motivated to achieve good results. A big thank you also goes to our entire team and our partners for the excellent preparation for this marathon event,’ concluded Breuer.

The ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring will take place from 19 to 22 June. Well over 200,000 spectators are expected to make the pilgrimage to the Eifel region for the race. The race can also be followed worldwide via YouTube livestream. German free-to-air TV channel NITRO will also broadcast the entire race live and is aiming to set a world record for the longest TV broadcast of a live sporting event.

The race twice around the clock will start on 21 June at 4 p.m. In the days leading up to the race, the participants will have several hours of training time to get used to the legendary race track and secure the best possible starting positions. On Wednesday, the Adenauer Racing Day will be a special highlight for fans of the race, when the participants will present themselves to enthusiastic fans in the city centre of Adenau, sign autographs and take selfies.