YOKOHAMA TIRE MOTORSPORTS｜2022 NLS Round1 Report

【NLS(Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) Round1 ／ Nürburgring】

The 2022 NLS Curtain Raiser Favored By Nice Spring Weather

NLS Round 1

Venue	26. Mar. 2022
Course	Nürburgring (Germany)
Weather	Fine
Surface	Dry
Race Time	4Hours (1Lap＝25,378m)

Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), the eight-round endurance race series, held its opening race of the 2022 season at Nürburgring. The series is famous for its premier event, the 24-hour race, which is set to take place on the last weekend of May this year.

Yokohama Tire continues to support Walkenhorst Motorsport in NLS. This year, the team runs three of the latest BMW M4 GT3s, instead of their familiar M6 GT3s, with Yokohama’s rubber on the cars’ wheel rims.

The drivers are Christian Krognes/Andy Soucek/Sami-Matti Trogen in the no.34 car, Jörg Müller/Mario Von Bohlen/Ben Tuck in the no.35, and Henry Walkenhorst/Friedrich Von Bohlen/Jörg Breuer in the no.36.

Andy Soucek has newly joined the crew of no.34 car. Born in 1985, the Spaniard won the FIA F2 championship, which had then been considered one of the stepping stones to Formula One, in 2009. So, he has a proven track record and a huge wealth of experience in GT racing.

The last year’s opening round was canceled because of snowfall. But on the race day this year, March 26th, the weather was fine and comfortable around the Nürburgring area. While the air/track temperatures when the qualifying session began were 7/8 degrees centigrade, they went up to 12/21 degrees at noon when the race was about to start. And the temperatures rose even higher later to 16/28 degrees, so the competitors enjoyed real spring weather. (The temperatures here are according to Yokohama Tires’ measurement.)

Walkenhorst Motorsport gave new liveries to their M4 GT3s this year, and the no.34 car has the large Yokohama logos on its body, which attracted broad attention. The qualifying session got underway at 8:30 in the morning, and the race cars’ exhaust sounds began to echo through the woods of the Eifel’s 25km race track.

Sousek was the first driver to make a qualifying attempt for the no.34 car. After setting the lap time below 7 minutes 58 seconds, he returned to the pit to hand the car to Torogen, the youngest of the trio, just 19 years old. A yellow flag hampered Torogen’s qualifying lap, so it didn’t reflect his actual performance, but he brought back the car safely to give Krognes a chance to be qualified.

However, a problem with the car’s suspension developed during Torogen’s run. It worsened quickly and became terminal when Krognes was behind the wheel. As a result, the team had to retire the no.34 car because the damage was so severe, and there wasn’t enough time to repair it to put the car on the starting grids.

The team’s remaining two cars started the race. The no.35 car finished 13th in the SP9 Pro class. And the no.36 car, which gentleman drivers, including the team owner, Henry Walkenhorst, were at the wheel, executed a good race and won in the SP9 Am class.

ENGINEER VOICE

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

“The tires we provide for the NLS cars have been developed specifically and are totally different from those used in the Japanese Super GT series. They wear differently because the friction coefficient of the track surface at Nürburgring is very different from those of Japanese race tracks. And the speed range is relatively higher, and the flat-out duration is longer here, so the requirements on tires are unique.

“Walkenhorst Motorsport introduced new cars this year, which meant the front tire size is different from the last year’s car. Therefore, we couldn’t carry over the 2021 specifications, and it was, in a way, a start from a blank sheet of paper.

“The race weekend was the first opportunity to run the cars with the new tires at Nürburgring. To be honest, we got a bit nervous because it was a step into the unknown. It was a shame that the no.34 car had to retire due to a mechanical problem, but the no.35 car ran smoothly and had no issue both on the tires and the car. So, we could collect various data which will be valuable for the coming races.

“Nürburgring is an extremely challenging circuit. But there always is a good atmosphere, and the teams and the drivers are very friendly. We will continue our maximum support to the team on the tire aspect to achieve our best possible results in the next race meeting.”

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2022 NLS Round1

2022 NLS(Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) Round 1 Report

【NLS(Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) Round1 ／ Nürburgring】

The 2022 NLS Curtain Raiser Favored By Nice Spring Weather

NLS Round 1

ENGINEER VOICE

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