After green light for NLS concept: ROWE RACING to contest five races of Nürburgring Endurance Series
St. Ingbert, June 15, 2020 – Following the approval of the VLN hygiene concept for the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) by the Ahrweiler district administration, ROWE RACING will compete in the first five rounds of the season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The team from St. Ingbert is preparing for the 48th ADAC 24h Race at the Nürburgring at the former VLN Endurance Championship, which is operating under a new name this year, and which has been postponed from the original date in May to September 26/27 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the Corona forced break, the first rounds of the NLS such as the ADAC 24h race had also not been able to take place as scheduled.
In preparation, ROWE RACING will take to the track today (Monday) with the two BMW DTM drivers Philipp Eng and Lucas Auer for the test and set-up session on the Nordschleife. The two Austrians will share the cockpit of the #99 BMW M6 GT3. While Philipp Eng is almost a fixture at ROWE RACING, his compatriot and new BMW factory driver colleague Lucas Auer will be making his first appearance for the team from St. Ingbert. The BMW M6 GT3 will be racing for the first time with the new ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GMBH logo on the front hood and doors, among other things. After an extensive relaunch, the company presents itself with an authentic, even more professional and consistent face. In the course of the relaunch, the ROWE RACING logo was also adapted to the new brand identity.
The season opener of the Nürburgring Endurance Series will take place on June 27 – without spectators and under the “corona conditions” of a hygiene concept jointly developed by the VLN, the race track operator, the community of interest long distance race Nürburgring (ILN), the german Motor Sport Group (DMSB) and the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health of Bonn University Hospital. This provides for an outdoor pit lane in the paddock, in addition to a limit on team sizes and a comprehensive mask requirement. The familiar pit facilities will not be used. Entry to the “provisional” pit lane will be through pit 1, and after a loop through the paddock it will return through pit 2 to the regular pit lane, where refueling operations can then be carried out before exiting onto the race track. There is a speed limit of 40 km/h in the entire pit lane, and even just 30 km/h when passing through pits 1 and 2 and in the turning circle in the paddock.
The season opener will be followed by an NLS double weekend with one race each on July 11 and 12 and the fourth race of the season on August 1. In each of these four races, which traditionally last four hours, ROWE RACING will field the BMW M6 GT3 with the #99. At the ROWE 6 Hours ADAC Ruhr Cup race on August 29, which will also be the dress rehearsal for the 24h race this year, ROWE RACING will compete with two BMW M6 GT3s.
Hans-Peter Naundorf, Team Principal ROWE RACING: “We are very happy that the season can now finally get underway after the long Corona forced break. A big thanks for this goes to the VLN operators, who, together with all partners and with a huge amount of work, have developed a great hygiene concept that allows us all to return to racing. For all teams, these new conditions are a great challenge, but one that we are very happy to face. It will be exciting to see who gets used to these conditions the fastest and best. The test and set-up run is the perfect opportunity to familiarize ourselves as a team with the new measures and procedures in addition to setting up the vehicles on the track. I’m also looking forward to Lucas Auer’s first stint with us in the team and I’m sure that, with his experience from the DTM and also from other racing series, he’ll quickly acclimatize with us.”
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