“Flying Dutchmen” give ROWE RACING first win of the season at their reunion

BMW works driver Nick Catsburg and compatriot Stef Dusseldorp unbeatable in BMW M6 GT3 / Flawless performance in difficult track conditions

St. Ingbert, August 1, 2020 – The “Flying Dutchmen” Nick Catsburg and Stef Dusseldorp have given ROWE RACING its first win of the season on their reunion. The two Dutchmen delivered an equally faultless performance in the #99 BMW M6 GT3 in the 43rd RCM DMV Borderland Race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, the fourth round of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) season, as did the team from St. Ingbert.

BMW factory driver Nick Catsburg had already laid the foundation for later success in qualifying on Saturday morning in the rainy Eifel. Perfect timing by the team and Nick Catsburg’s well-known qualities in the rain enabled third place on the grid, which the Dutchman maintained in the starting phase of the race on slicks with no tread on a still damp track. Shortly before the end of the first lap, he had to temporarily relinquish this position to a competitor who had gambled with different tires. When the latter then had to pit after just four laps, Nick Catsburg took over third place again. In this position, he handed over the #99 BMW M6 GT3 after the seventh lap to Stef Dusseldorp, with whom he had last driven together at ROWE RACING in 2016. The returnee overtook the two competitors who had been ahead of the ROWE RACING car up to that point directly on his first lap on track and, after further pit stops by the competition, took the lead for the first time on the 13th lap.

After the 15th lap, Nick Catsburg took the wheel again and initially returned to the track in third place. But he stayed on the track three laps longer than the two rivals in front of him and, after the final pit stop on lap 23, maintained the lead with an 18-second advantage. After that, he brought home the win in commanding style and even extended his lead to a final 21.877 seconds with his personal fastest race lap on the 27th and final lap. Stef Dusseldorp thus celebrated a podium finish, as he had in his previous last race for ROWE RACING, in which he had finished second in the VLN on October 8, 2016.

For ROWE RACING, the first win of the season is a perfect tune-up for the “home race”. After a short summer break, the ROWE 6 Hours ADAC Ruhr Cup Race is scheduled for August 29 on the Nordschleife, which is also the dress rehearsal for the 48th ADAC 24h Race on September 26/27.

Hans-Peter Naundorf, Team Principal ROWE RACING: “We’re totally happy and satisfied after our first win of the season. It had looked difficult at first on the Nordschleife in the first few races, but then we steadily improved. Victory today might have even looked a bit easy, but it was very difficult to take due to the changing track conditions. We really wanted to be on the first two rows of the grid to have a good starting position, which Nick Catsburg and the team did perfectly in the rain. The race start with slicks on a still wet track was very difficult, but Nick Catsburg did a great job. He didn’t risk too much at first and then made up a lot of time. Stef Dusseldorp did a bravura job, made two important overtaking maneuvers right on the first lap on the track and then made up a lot of ground on the front runners. In the end, our two Dutchmen swung it home, which certainly wasn’t as easy as it might have seemed in 30 degrees in the closing stages. A big thank you also goes to the team, which has mastered the first part of this exhausting season very well. Especially due to the safety and hygiene measures after the COVID-19 pandemic, the working conditions are unusual and difficult. But when you can celebrate a success like today, everyone in the team has a lot of fun. We hope that with this tailwind we can tackle the big highlights of the season well equipped after the small summer break.”

Nick Catsburg, #99 ROWE RACING BMW M6 GT3: “This race was not so bad. At the start we had difficult weather conditions, the tire choice was not easy because the track was still wet. Nevertheless, almost everyone started with slicks. So in the early stages I just wanted to keep the car on the track. Stef did a great job after the first driver change and I just had to hold on to first place at the end. The final phase was huge fun.”

Stef Dusseldorp, #99 ROWE RACING BMW M6 GT3: “Nick was great at the start. I took over the second stint and was close to a Mercedes and a Porsche, which I overtook right away on my first lap with a bit of luck. The car was just great to drive and the tires were running well.”

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