2022 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers Race Report

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2022 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers Race Report

【24h Nürburgring Qualifiers Race ／ Nürburgring】

Walkenhorst No.101 Car Starts Race 2 From Pole Position, Team Vows Fightback In 24 Hours After QF Race Retirement

24h Nürburgring Qualifiers Race

Date	6-8 May 2022
Course	Nürburgring (Germany)
Weather	Race 1 : Fine ／ Race 2 : Fine
Surface	Race 1 : Dry ／ Race 2 : Dry
Race Time	Race 1 : 3Hours ／ Race 2 : 3Hours (1Lap＝25,378m)

As the renowned Nürburgring 24-hour race, scheduled for the last weekend of May, was approaching, ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers took place on May 6th to 8th, as the run-up to the around-the-clock race. Walkenhorst Motorsport, supported by Yokohama Tire, sent three BMW M4 GT3s to this event.

The Walkenhorst team has already scored a podium finish in the NLS (Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) series, which has held two rounds this year to date. Although these “qualifiers” don’t belong to the series, it was quite an important event in preparation for the 24-hour race, which was also organized by ADAC, the German Automobile Federation.

The race week started with double two-hour qualifying sessions on Friday and the Top 30 Qualifier for Race 1 later on the same day. On Saturday, after a 45-minute warm-up session, Race 1 with the duration of three hours was held. Then there was another Top 30 Qualifier and the three-hour Race 2 on Sunday.

Christian Krognes, Andy Soucek, and Sami-Matti Trogen, the same trio from the NLS series rounds, drove the Walkenhorst’s no.101 car. And for this event, Jörn Schmidt-Staade joined the pair of Jörg Müller and Ben Tuck for the no.102 car. The team owner, Henry Walkenhorst, drove no.100 car, sharing it with Jörg Breuer and Andreas Ziegler.

The no.101 car secured the third grid for Race 1 in Friday’s qualifying session, following the two fastest BMW M4 GT3s. So it was similar to the NLS’s third round when the Walkenhorst’s ace car finished in third. The weather forecast said it would be raining on Saturday, but the rain stopped when the cars sat on their grids before the start. So, while the track was still wet and the race control declared “the wet track,” the no.101 car started the race with the slick tires.

However, the car dropped to the 19th place when it completed the opening lap, as the driver struggled to find any grip. Nevertheless, the crew’s continuous efforts throughout the three-hour race led to finishing in ninth after getting through the difficult final laps in darkness. Cars no.102 and no.100 also finished the race in 20th and 25th, respectively.

On Sunday morning, the sky was still overcast, though it didn’t rain. The no.101 car performed well in Sunday’s qualifying session. Basically, each car was allowed to do two qualifying laps, but some teams strategically opted for only one attempt to save their tires. Krognes in the no.101 car clocked 8’08″566 on the second lap with the properly warmed tires, and this was good enough to secure the pole position, beating the BMW Junior Team with the same M4 GT3.

Krognes was behind the car’s wheel, sitting on the pole position which he earned, when the race got underway. Fending off the attack by the Junior Team driver, he got through the first corner as the race leader and came back to the pit straight in the same position. At the end of Lap 1, the top two pulled away from the car running in third, more than 5 seconds behind the no.101 car.

When Krognes changed to Trogen, the car was still in the lead. The Finn entertained the spectators by showing some side-by-side battles with the BMW Junior Team car. However, Trogen crashed about halfway through the race, which resulted in their retirement. So the crew vowed to fight back in the coming 24-hour race.

While the no.100 car finished the race, the no.101 car had to retire due to a mechanical problem. Therefore, the latter’s crew was also looking forward to a better result in the 24-hour.

ENGINEER VOICE

Masaaki Miyoshi　[The Yokohama Rubber Co.,LTD. Motorsports Tire Development Dept. No.1 Tire Development Division]

“We needed to collect data on the tires because the team switched to BMW M4 this year, which meant the front tire size was different from last year’s car. With a lot of track time from the opening round of the NLS to this 24 h Qualifiers, we could gather plenty of data in the buildup for the all-important 24-hour race.

“The no.101 car won the pole position for Race 2. At Nürburgring, the length of a lap is about 25km. Therefore, one qualifying lap is equivalent to five consecutive attacking laps at an average race track. Based on the result of the Top 30 Qualifier of Race 1, we decided to switch to tires that had different specifications, which should be more consistent in terms of performance, for the Qualifier of Race 2. As a result, the car could set a better qualifying time because the tires worked well under the high-load conditions. We want to thank the team and the driver for delivering this result.

“Our next stop will be the 24-hour race. Running around the clock means the tires would face a massive change in the track temperature from 40 degrees centigrade in daytime hours to below 20 degrees at night. And how to adapt to it has been the focus of our tire development. The result of Race 2 today was disappointing, but the performance this weekend confirmed that we would be competitive enough in the 24-hour race. At the same time, the area we need to work on became apparent at this event.

“Walkenhorst Motorsport now has a proven track record, as they made a podium finish in a NLS round and claimed the pole position this weekend. To achieve even better results, we try to do the best preparation for the 24-hour race by sharing information about the tire choice and so on. And our tire development work will continue after the 24-hours to attain good results in the coming NLS rounds.”

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Nürburgring Qualifiers Race