It created quite some excitement during the third round of the “Nürburgring Long Distance Series”, when the favorite to win the class, Reinhard Kofler, was “shot down” on the Grand Prix track on the very first lap. KTM works driver Kofler, who shares the car with German driver Georg Griesemann at the Nürburgring, was not amused afterwards – just like his driver colleague. But with a lot of anger in their stomach, Kofler and Griesemann were able to strike back impressively at the fourth round of the NLS on August 1st, 2020.
After struggling through a rainy Friday, there was no stopping in the race on Saturday: Kofler placed the KTM X-BOW GT4 in Cup specification on pole in the class as well as on starting position 16 in the overall standings, which practically meant to be the fastest non-GT3 car. The Griesemann/Kofler pairing was also unrivaled in the race, which in the end meant an impressive 17th place overall and the victory in cup class. “We’ve been able to show what is in the car this weekend, Georg and I drove flawlessly and made good points in the overall standings. And a top 20 place here on the Nordschleife is always something special”, a happy Reini Kofler reported after crossing the finish line.
The second KTM X-BOW GT4 team was by no means badly presented: Maik Rönnefarth/Karam Osman Ercan/Laura Kraihamer entered the four-hour race and finished in second place in the cup standings as well as 33rd overall. For Maik Rönnefarth and Karam Osman Ercan there were important points with regard to the fight for the overall cup victory, while Laura Kraihamer was able to collect valuable racing distance in the KTM X-BOW GT4 on the Nordschleife after a long time: “Due to my involvement with the 'Girls only' team I haven't been able to drive the KTM X-BOW GT4 here for quite a long time. It took a little while until I was at it again, but after that it was endless fun and joy. Our KTM X-BOW GT4 has its own standard in the corners, that's just great!”
Maik Rönnefarth continues to lead the overall standings, now with 36 points clearly ahead of Stephan Brodmerkel, Michael Mönch and Kara Osman Ercan (25 points each). They are followed by “Max”, Georg Griesemann and Reinhard Kofler with 24 points each. Excitement remains and the next round of the KTM X-BOW CUP powered by MICHELIN will take place on August 29, 2020, when the traditional 6-hour race is run.