Walkenhorst Motorsport achieved another strong result at the third round of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie.
With the 56th Adenauer ADAC Rundstrecken-Trophy, the third round of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie season is now behind Walkenhorst Motorsport. In addition to two Aston Martin Vantage GT3, the team entered one of the British GT4 and a production-based Hyundai i30N.
‘A big thank you to PROsport Racing, who lent us a GT4 car for the race at short notice, as we were unable to repair our GT4 car in time after the serious accident at the last NLS race due to delivery problems with spare parts,’ said team founder Henry Walkenhorst.
The Walkenhorst top car was driven by the two Aston Martin works drivers David Pittard and Nicki Thiim. The two world-class GT drivers, who have both already won the 24-hour race in the Eifel, showed a very focussed performance throughout the day. The duo drove to a strong fifth place in the four-hour race.
The team also entered another Vantage GT3 for works driver Christian Krognes and the ambitious veterans Stefan Aust and Anders Buchardt. However, the car retired prematurely at the halfway point of the race through no fault of its own. A slower car hit Stefan Aust in the high-speed section of the Kesselchen, who then had to park the car with damage to the rear axle.
The GT4 Vantage entered by Walkenhorst Motorsport was also forced to retire prematurely. A collision on lap 7 led to the retirement of the loan car, which is well known from the ADAC GT4 Germany. Niklas Abrahamsen, Hermann Vortkamp and the American Josh Hansen took the wheel.
In the VT2 FWD class, the two GT World Challenge Europe drivers Oliver Söderström and Mateo Villagomez lined up in the production-based Hyundai i30N. While the Swede Söderström successfully obtained his Permit A with his second start, Villagomez gained his first experience in the legendary Green Hell. The duo finished the race in a strong second place in class, leaving many experienced drivers on the Nordschleife behind them.
‘We were able to continue our successful preparation for the 24-hour race with our Pro AMR GT3, and after finishing second in NLS2 we have once again demonstrated our potential. This gives us confidence for the big race in June,’ says Managing Director Jörg Breuer with satisfaction. ‘Oliver and Mateo also did a great job in our Hyundai – I am sure that we will see both drivers on the Nordschleife this year in the GT3!’
Walkenhorst Motorsport will be back on the Nordschleife in just two weeks’ time for the two races of the ADAC 24h Qualifiers, which are also part of the ADAC Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie this year. Before that, the team will compete in the GT World Challenge powered by AWS Sprint Cup in Zandvoort in the Netherlands.