Great anticipation for ROWE RACING ahead of GTWC home race at the Nürburgring

After the season highlight at the 24 Hours of Spa, the third of five races in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup is another special one for ROWE RACING. The race at the Nürburgring this Sunday (28th July) is a home outing for the team from St. Ingbert, who are excited about racing in familiar surroundings and in front of home fans in the grandstands.

Following the magnificent start to the season, with victory at Le Castellet in the south of France, ROWE RACING performed well again last time out at Spa and was very unfortunate to miss out on another podium. The team is now looking to make amends on home soil and bring the top spot trophy in the Endurance Cup Team competition back to St. Ingbert. ROWE RACING currently lies second with 37 points, just eleven behind the leaders, and is hungry to score heavily with its two strong trios of BMW M works drivers.

After two unfortunate races, Austrian Philipp Eng, two-time German DTM champion Marco Wittmann and Britain’s Nick Yelloly in the #98 BMW M4 GT3 are hoping the weekend runs smoothly this time and that they can get back to challenging at the front of the field. In the #998 car, the winners of the opening race – Brazilian Augusto Farfus, Dan Harper from Great Britain and Germany’s Max Hesse – have their sights set on the overall lead in the Drivers‘ Championship. They currently trail the leaders by just ten points with three races remaining.

When the GT World Challenge Europe competes at the Nürburgring, it will not race on the legendary “Green Hell” that is the Nordschleife, but on the 5.137-kilometre Grand Prix Track with its seven left turns and nine right‑handers. The short journey and familiar surroundings, including the ROWE lounge, give the event the feel of a home race with many create a true home game atmosphere with many familiar routines.

The race weekend in the Eifel region kicks off for the team from St. Ingbert on Saturday (27th July) with the two‑hour free practice session from 8:30 to 10:30 followed by the 60‑minute pre‑qualifying session from 12:25 to 13:55. On Sunday (28th July), the qualifying session from 8:45 to 9:45 will determine the starting grid for the three‑hour race, which is scheduled to start at 15:00.

Hans-Peter Naundorf, Team Principal ROWE RACING: “We want to back up the strong performances at the Le Castellet season opener which we won, and most recently at the 24 Hours of Spa, and to convert these into success again at our home race at the Nürburgring. Our goal is simple. We want to regain the lead in the Endurance Cup within the GT World Challenge Europe. I have every faith in our team, our partner BMW M Motorsport, and our two top‑class trios of drivers. This weekend there will also have that ‘home feel’, as the Nürburgring is extremely familiar territory for us all. The journey there is a short one, we know all the local places, we have our ROWE lounge directly above our garages, and all the processes are familiar.”

CALENDAR GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE
28.07.2024: Nürburgring
22.09.2024: Monza
23.11.2024: Jeddah