172 entries were received by the organizer for the traditionally longest NLS race of the season, the "ROWE 6 hours ADAC Ruhr-Pokal race", so an absolute record starting grid was waiting to kick-off the race at noon last Saturday. Of course, there were three KTM X-BOW GT4 Cup vehicles, all by Adenau-based KTM X-BOW partner Teichmann-Racing.
The favored team in the “CUPX” class was once again to be found in its KTM X-BOW GT4 CUP with starting number 930: KTM works drivers Reinhard Kofler and Georg Griesemann received support from Yves Volte for the six-hour race. The young German was already on the podium in the ADAC GT4 Germany last year - also on a KTM X-BOW GT4 - and has now made his Nordschleife debut on the KTM GT4 vehicle. In any case, the trio more than lived up to their role as favorites. In the end, Kofler/Griesemann/Volte won with an advantage of one lap and a more than respectable 28th place overall - and thus right in the middle of the more than 30 GT3 racing cars that were present in preparation for the 24-hour race.
Second place went to the KTM X-BOW GT4 CUP team with starting number 929: Overall cup leader Maik Rönnefahrth had, in addition to his regular team-mate “Airgee” (Kara Osman Ercan) with Hendrik Still also a quick third driver for the six-hour race. Thanks to the second place (rank 45 overall), Rönnefarth was able to collect good points again. With 44 points he’s still leading in the overall standings of the KTM X-BOW CUP powered by MICHELIN. However, Georg Griesemann and Reinhard Kofler are already a little closer on his heels, the two of them holding at 36 points each. “Airgee” is also close behind with 33 points, followed by Stephan Brodmerkel and Michael Mönch tied for fifth and sixth overall.
The latter two competed in the third KTM X-BOW GT4 CUP with the number 927, this time sharing the steering wheel with Tom Leswal and Karl-Heinz Teichmann. Even if the quartet did experience some problems, they still finished in the top 100 and were able to collect points for the overall standings. There are still three races to run this year, the sixth NLS event will follow on October 24th - so it will be a “hot autumn” on the Nürburgring Nordschleife as well as in the KTM X-BOW CUP powered by MICHELIN!