ROWE RACING begins preparations für the ADAC 24h Nürburgring in the “Green Hell”
First Nordschleife laps in the BMW M4 GT3 for Robin Frijns and Raffaele Marciello / New tyre specification from Michelin
St. Ingbert, 19th March 2024 – The starting signal has sounded for the 2024 Nordschleife season. ROWE RACING will begin preparations for the ADAC 24h Nürburgring on the coming Friday (22nd March), which will be the first season highlight for the team from St. Ingbert on 1st/2nd June. The test and setup drives in the run up to the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NES) are the second official outing on the track in 2024 for the team after the two day GT World Challenge Europe prologue at Le Castellet, southern France, at the beginning of March.
For the two new BMW M works drivers, Robin Frijns from the Netherlands and Raffaele Marciello from Switzerland, it is the first opportunity to gain experience on the Nürburgring Nordschleife with the BMW M4 GT3, which is still new to them. In their first appearance in the ROWE RACING colours, the two successful and experienced newcomers to the BMW M Motorsport works driver roster will share the cockpit of the #98 BMW M4 GT3 with Belgian Maxime Martin. In the sister#99 car, Brazilian Augusto Farfus and Belgian Dries Vanthoor will be on the move. At the ADAC 24h Nürburgring, in addition to these five drivers, the two former DTM champions, Sheldon van der Linde from South Africa and Marco Wittmann from Germany, will join ROWE RACING in the hunt for their second overall victory after 2020.
A total of nine hours on Friday and another three hours on Saturday will be available to the teams for test and setup drives on the 24.358 kilometre combination of the Nordschleife and the sprint course. In addition to the goal of giving Robin Frijns and Raffaele Marciello as much driving time as possible in the BMW M4 GT3, the team is also focusing on getting accustomed to the new tyre specification from Michelin that will be used this year.
Hans-Peter Naundorf, Team Principal ROWE RACING: “We are very much looking forward to the start of the Nürburgring season and to finally be able to turn our laps in the ‘Green Hell’ again. The main focus is on ensuring that our two newcomers, Robin Frijns and Raffaele Marciello, can get used to the driving behaviour of the BMW M4 GT3 and that they also get to know all the members and processes in our team. I am confident that with their experience and class, they will quickly integrate into our team and that Augusto Farfus, Maxime Martin and Dries Vanthoor will facilitate their entry. In addition, our programme includes gathering as much experience as possible with the new Michelin tyres and also getting to know the newly asphalted sections of the Nordschleife.”