The highlight of the ADAC GT4 Germany season is behind ME Motorsport. At the Norisring, the GT4 championship made a guest appearance on a street circuit for the first time and was able to present itself to the Franconian metropolis of Nuremberg in front of over 100,000 spectators. ME Motorsport brought two BMW M4 GT4s to the start, which were driven by regular drivers Markus Eichele and Philip Wiskirchen as well as Motorsport Team Germany sponsor drivers Thomas Rackl and Andreas Jochimsen.
For 16-year-old Rackl, who comes from Berching, Franconia, the event in Nuremberg was therefore a home game. “The local support from many friends and family was terrific,” reported the talented young pilot. “It was an incredibly great event and the track was also really fun. With all the walls, however, the layout is extremely tight. ”
Together with Andreas Jochimsen, Rackl scored points in both races. The two drivers originally finished the first race in sixth place, but a subsequent time penalty caused them to slide down to twelfth position. After an adjustment of the car classification on Sunday, it was enough for 13th place in the second round of the scoring.
Both races led by team owner Eichele and talented young rider Wiskirchen started from promising positions but ended early. On Saturday, Eichele slid into the track limits in the Schoeller-S after the BMW was no longer controllable after a wall kiss. On Sunday, Wiskirchen was severely hit in the rear by a Mercedes, which was massively estimated when braking on the first turn.
The team had already been racing the week before: In the GTC Race at the Nürburgring, the racing team from Schwäbisch Gmünd used two M4 GT4s. In qualifying for the GT60 powered by Pirelli race, Philip Wiskirchen achieved first pole position for the team as he finished on the best grid position in the GT4 class.
In a hard-fought one-hour race on Saturday afternoon, Wiskirchen fought for victory together with team owner Eichele for a long time! In the end, it took less than a second to win! The decisive factor was a 5-second time penalty for an offense against the track limits, as the BMW was the first in the class to be waved away. Thomas Rackl and Linus Hahne finished third, leaving both ME Motorsport driver duos on the podium after the race.
Sunday at the Nürburgring was marked by two half-hour GT Sprint races. In the first race, Philip Wiskirchen finished in a strong third place — Rackl finished the race in eighth position. In the second race in the afternoon, Hahne and Eichele finished fourth and fifth.
“The two weekends were very demanding for us as a team — we showed strong speed at the Norisring, which unfortunately did not come to light with the corresponding results. In addition, our performance at the GTC Race at the Nürburgring was very strong. We were able to claim our first pole position and narrowly missed out on our first win with just a penalty — this proves that we're on the right track! ”
The GTC Race will continue from August 9 to 11 at the Hockenheim. Just one week later, the next ADAC GT4 Germany event will take place, which will then make a guest appearance at the Nürburgring.
