The journey to and especially the assembly at the Nürburgring was still a bit bumpy – after all, the teams had to move into a completely reconfigured "outdoor" paddock for the first time in the history of the VLN – the enthusiasm amongst everyone involved was huge when it was on Saturday morning the qualifying for the first NLS run of the 2020 season started. Even the weather god was gracious and brought plenty of sunshine. As usual from the previous year, Teichmann Racing launched three KTM X-BOW GT4 vehicles in the CUPX class. In qualifying, # 930 with the crew Georg Griesemann, Reinhard Kofler and "AIRGEE" secured pole position in class. The KTM X-BOW GT4 with the # 929 was seen for the first time in the new proACT design and was piloted by Maik Rönnefarth, "Max" and "Jens", while the # 927 was on the road with Stephan Brodmerkel, Michael Mönch and Hendrik Still.
The early stages of the 4-hour race went smoothly for all KTM X-BOW teams, but there was initial excitement shortly afterwards around the # 929, which coasted on the “Hohe Acht” section. After a short standstill and remote diagnosis, the proACT-X-BOW was able to re-start and carry on without further problems. It was impressive that all three teams were able to set consistently fast lap times, which were even significantly faster than the lap times achieved in the previous year - the fine tuning on the cars during the long winter break apparently paid off.
KTM works driver Reinhard Kofler caused a sensation in his stint with impressive lap times of 8:37 minutes and – when the GT3 vehicles already had to pit – took the overall lead in the NLS with a KTM X-BOW GT4 for the first time ever! An impressive performance and the proof of how powerful the KTM concept is on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Unfortunately, the joy did not last long. Shortly after the pit stop with driver change, the car crashed into the guardrail at the “Schwalbenschwanz” section. The driver was still able to bring the car back to the pits, but the damage was too big to be repaired in an acceptable time.
Therefore, Stephan Brodmerkel, Michael Mönch and Hendrik Still won the first round of the KTM X-BOW CUP powered by MICHELIN with the # 927, second place went to Maik Rönnefarth, "MAX" & "JENS" in the proACT-X -BOW with the # 929. Team principal Michael Teichmann: “The complex concept of the NLS worked completely, a big thank you to the organizers and to all the helpers who made this possible. Big respect also for the fans who, despite their longing for the Nordschleife, stayed at home and watched the race via live stream. The atmosphere was great and we can't wait for the next races! ”