RAIN & FOG CHAOS AT THE 24-HOUR RACE NÜRBURGRING: ALL 7 KTM X-BOW FINISH, P21 FOR KOFLER/STUCK/STUCK!

  • Rain, aquaplaning & fog cause a long interruption at the 49th edition of the 24-hour race
  • All four KTM X-BOW GTX and all four KTM X-BOW GT4 cross the finish line in the end
  • Great overall finishes for the True Racing (21st) & McChip (23rd) KTM X-BOW GTX teams
  • Fastest KTM X-BOW GT4 from Teichmann Racing on the way to the top-30 with bad luck

 

The spectacle that the legendary 24-hour race on the Nürburgring Nordschleife promises year after year was hard to beat once again this time around - even though the race itself had to be interrupted for a long time due to the incredibly difficult weather conditions during the night. After the race had started on time at 15:30 hrs on Saturday afternoon, it had to be stopped at exactly 21:59 hrs because dense fog had fallen in several places. The restart did not take place until Sunday, more precisely at 12:00 hrs noon. This meant that the race was interrupted for a whole 14.5 hours, the pure race time was reduced to only 9.5 hours.

 

The seven KTM X-BOW teams got off to a good start and - with the exception of Teichmann Racing's KTM X-BOW GTX #112, which had to have a sensor replaced shortly after the start - were doing very well. But then suddenly heavy rain set in and the chaos took its course: cars from all classes spun off the track, even KTM works driver Reini Kofler on the True Racing KTM X-BOW GTX #114, run by Reiter Engineering, only managed to avoid a more serious spin with great skills and luck. One KTM X-BOW GT4 from Teichmann Racing was also affected: Driver "Airgee" lost the #60 in the Hatzenbach area and damaged the tie rod, which resulted in a major loss of time. Only a little later there was another setback when the "anniversary car" (auto motor und sport True Racing KTM X-BOW GTX #75) with Markus Oestreich hit the barriers in the Aremberg section. This was followed by a long break for repairs of the car, which dashed all hopes of a top finish for the crew. In the early evening, bad luck unfortunately also hit the #115, the KTM X-BOW GTX of the McChip team: their airjack system refused to work during a pit stop and several minutes were lost. When it finally got dark at the Nürburgring, thick fog fell, which ultimately led to the race being abandoned and gave the teams a night's rest that was completely unusual for the 24-hour race.

 

For the restart on Sunday afternoon, the teams gathered again on the start and finish straight of the GP circuit to fight for the final positions in a "sprint race", lasting 3.5 hours. The trio Reinhard Kofler, Ferdinand and Johannes Stuck succeeded best in doing so, finishing in a great 21st place overall for True Racing and thus achieving a sensational result for the new KTM X-BOW GTX, despite over 35 technically superior GT3 and SPX cars. The same goes for Team McChip: Christoph Breuer, Heiko Hammel, Tim Heinemann and "Dieter Schmidtmann" ended up in an outstanding 23rd place overall. If it hadn't been for their bad luck at the pit stop, the team could probably have fought for the best KTM result.

 

 

The fastest KTM X-BOW GT4 from Teichmann Racing finished as the third best KTM team: Georg Griesemann, Maik Rönnefarth, Tim Sandtler and Yves Volte (#111) were already on their way to the top 30 in the overall standings, when a voltage drop in the battery caused the ultimate scare in the Teichmann pit a few minutes before the end of the race. Somehow, driver Yves Volte managed to get the KTM X-BOW GT4 moving again and cross the finish line in 47th place overall. The KTM X-BOW GTX of Teichmann Racing (#112), however, never recovered from the early setback, on the contrary - another slip costed even more (repair) time. In the end, despite a strong driver line-up consisting of Constantin Schöll, Andy Soucek, Peter Terting and Dennis Trebing, the team did not finish higher than 55th. The KTM X-BOW GT4 with the quartet of Dirk Adorf, Daniel Bohr, Timo Mölig and Felix von der Laden (#110) was also hit by bad luck in the final phase, but after an involuntary stop in a run-off zone, they continued and crossed the finish line in 69th place. The "auto motor und sport" team of Jens Dralle, Christian Menzel, Markus Oestreich and Tim Schrick crossed the finish line in 72nd place. Unfortunately, due to the long repair break and the extremely shortened driving time, they were unable to improve more significantly. Last but not least, "Airgee", Stephan Brodmerkel, Laura Kraihamer and Karl-Heinz Teichmann finished 75th.

 

Manfred Wolf, Head of PR & Customer Racing, was thrilled by the performance of the customer teams: "To finish 21st and 23rd overall in this strong field has honestly exceeded our expectations. We had speculated that we would be lucky to finish in the top-30. The fact that we were now able to scratch the top 20 shows the enormous potential of the KTM X-BOW GTX. However, the KTM X-BOW GT4 with Griesemann, Rönnefarth, Sandtler and Volte proved that we even have two models with a lot of potential for the Nürburgring Nordschleife in our range, even though a small technical problem prevented an even better placing for the GT4 at the last moment. It was a pity that the driving time was severely shortened due to the weather conditions, but in terms of safety for all involved, the interruption was the only right decision. I would like to thank all the drivers, team members and helpers from Teichmann Racing, McChip, Reiter Engineering and True Racing for their commitment and great performances. Now we hope to be able to contest this unique race together with the fans again in 2022."