2022 NLS(Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie) Round 5 Report

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The 2022 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) had to postpone its second round scheduled in April to November due to bad weather so that the meeting will be held as the de facto season closer. This change also meant the fifth round held on July 9th marked the halfway point of the eight-race series at the renowned German race track.

Whereas other events are four-hour races, this fifth round was a six-hour race, and the next one in September would be a12-hour race. So these two rounds might be even more important for the championship contenders.

Walkenhorst Motorsport had to reduce its usual three-car team to two cars for this time since one of its BMW M4 GT3 was badly damaged by an accident in a DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft or German Touring car Championship) race.

Consequently, the team’s no.34 car was driven by the trio of Christian Krognes, Andy Soucek, and Ben Tuck in the SP9 Pro class. And the quartet of Henry Walkenhorst, Jörg Müller, Friedrich Von Bohlen, and Jörg Breuer shared the no.36 car, competing in the SP9 Pro-Am class.

As previously reported, the no.34 car sat on the pole position in the fourth round and fought a close battle for the race win until the very last lap. And the car’s crew maintained the momentum in this fifth round. In the qualifying, which started at 8:30 in the morning on Saturday, July 9th, Krognes set 7’51”330, and the lap time was good enough to earn the pole position again, beating no.25 Porsche 911 GT3R by 0.126 seconds. Thus, the no.34 car secured the best grid to start the race for the second consecutive round.

The 6-hour race got underway at noon. The track surface was dry throughout, and the air/track temperatures were 20/27 degrees centigrade, according to the Yokohama Tire’s gauge.

The no.34 car with Tuck behind the wheel completed the opening lap in second. It was because the no.11 Porsche 911 GT3R jumped up by taking the inside line from the fourth grid and led the field at the first corner.

Tuck gave way to another Porsche, car no.3, on Lap 3 but didn’t allow it to pull away from him, forming a three-car leading pack with two 911 GT3Rs ahead. After the no.11 Porsche made its first stop on Lap 5, the no.34 car came into the pit at the end of Lap 6 to change to the fastest man in the qualifying, Krognes, when about 50 minutes had passed from the start.

Krognes drove eight laps before returning to the pit on Lap 14 to hand the car to Soucek. And an accident happened three laps later during the native of Spain’s stint. Due to some fluid on the track, probably some oil, the top three cars, including the no.34, went off the track in swift succession. Luckily, Soucek could continue with almost no damage, while the other two hit the guard rails or barriers and dropped out of the race.

The no.34 car stepped down to the fourth, but there were still three hours and 40 minutes to the checkered flag, which meant it was still before the halfway point of the race. About 30 minutes later, the car visited the pit for the third time, but Soucek stayed in the driving seat for the next stint, aiming at regaining the lost positions.

Hot on the heels of the no.7 Lamborghini Huracán GT3, Soucek was watching the opportunity to move up to third. Then he was overtaken by the no.4 Porsche, which was close behind him on Lap 27, but the Walkenhorst driver capitalized on it and passed the no.7 car with the Porsche. After the move, Soucek made the fourth stop for the no.34 car on Lap 29 to change to Krognes.

When all cards in the SP9 Pro class got done with their fourth pit stop, dark cloud cover started to increase, and the concern for rain arose toward the end of the race, with about 90 minutes to go. At the same time, some of Walkenhorst’s rivals dropped their positions because of tire problems, suggesting that the six-hour race closing stage would be even more challenging for everyone.

Walkenhorst’s no.34 car formed a group fighting for second with the no.55 Mercedes AMG GT3 and the no.5 Audi R8 LMS GT3. In this pack, the no.34 was sandwiched between no.55 and no.5, and they were running close to each other.

On Lap 32, the no.5 Audi managed to overtake Krognes’ no.34 BMW using slipstream, but he at the same time utilized the rival’s maneuver to pass the no.55 Mercedes and kept the third place. Then, Krognes pushed the no.5 car hard, with the remaining race time being less than an hour, and his BMW’s famous kidney grill almost touched Audi’s tail.

Krognes finally made the successful move on Lap 37 by diving into the inside at Turn 1 and cleverly used a lapped car to fend off the no.5 car’s counterattack. At the end of the lap, the no.34 in second and the no.5 in third visited the pit lane, and the final battle on the track between them started here, just like we saw in the previous round.

At the first corner of Lap 39, the Audi’s driver tried to squeeze his car into the inside, but Krognes held it off by closing a door tightly. With only 30 minutes left, they became side-by-side again, and the no.5 car got ahead of the no.34 on Lap 40. For the final ten minutes, Krognes launched an all-out attack to regain second place and tried to overtake the Audi on Lap 42 when they returned to the Grand Prix course, only to spin and lose out the battle.

Fortunately, Krognes could rejoin the race immediately and keep third place until the end, as there was a big gap with the car running in fourth. All in all, getting on the podium by finishing in third was something to celebrate for Walkenhorst Motorsport, especially considering the no.34 car marked the pole position and the fastest lap during the race, which was another proof of the car and crew’s sheer speed.

The team’s no.36 car fought a steady race and finished fourth in the SP9 Pro-Am class.