Thanks to a special safety concept, the “Nürburgring Long Distance Series” (NLS, formerly VLN) is one of the very first racing series in the world, but certainly the first German racing series, to start operating again. Next Saturday, the first of a total of eight races for NLS 2020 will take place on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, although without spectators and with restrictions regarding team size and procedures.
For the KTM Sportcar GmbH, the start of NLS 2020 also means the start of the fourth season of the "KTM X-BOW CUP powered by MICHELIN", which has brought the spectacular KTM X-BOW GT4 racing cars to the Nordschleife over the past three years. As in previous years, Teichmann Racing is also in charge this year. The team from Adenau will use three of the spectacular lightweight sports cars in it’s special cup specification.
Team boss Michael Teichmann: “We are more than happy that it’s finally starting again. The last few weeks and months have been tough, but now, thanks to our drivers and partners, we can launch three KTM X-BOW GT4s despite the difficult circumstances.” Manfred Wolf, responsible for PR and customer racing at KTM, adds: “Prior to the outbreak of the current crisis we expected five, maybe six cars participating in the KTM X-BOW CUP powered by MICHELIN. On one hand it’s a pity that we can’t exploit this potential now, on the other hand we are very happy that, despite all the difficulties, three KTM X-BOW GT4 teams will make their way to start on the Nordschleife. In addition, as a small series manufacturer, we would like to show that we stand by the VLN and NLS even in these difficult times and that our commitment here at the Nürburgring remains a priority.”
The three cars, which will start the four-hour race on Saturday, June 27th 2020 at 12:00 p.m., have mostly experienced crews: The KTM X-BOW GT4 will start with the #927 and drivers Stephan Brodmerkel, Michael Mönch and Karlheinz Teichmann, the # 929 is driven by Maik Rönnefarth, "MAX" and "JENS", and the car with the # 930 is shared by "AIRGEE", Georg Griesemann and KTM works driver Reinhard Kofler, who is really looking forward to this race, speaking out for all his teammates: "After the long waiting time and the numerous cancellations, we can finally race again - this is by far the most beautiful gift for a long time, for us, Christmas has practically come at the end of June this year!"