WTM Racing successfully celebrated team owner Georg Weiss’ 60th birthday at the Nürburgring 24h race.

The two Ferrari 488 GT3s managed by Rinaldi Racing finished third and fifth in the SP9 Pro-Am class and took 11th and 13th overall.

With a flawless performance, Daniel Keilwitz, Oliver Kainz, Jochen Krumbach and Alexander Mattschull in the number 11 “Luigi” Ferrari finished on the podium in their class. They completed 153 laps on the 25.378-kilometre combination of the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit and the legendary Nordschleife.

After a technical defect in qualifying, the team had replaced the entire wiring harness on Friday evening. Apart from the replacement of a tie rod for safety reasons, the team made it through the race without any incidents. With consistently fast lap times, the quartet successfully fended off an attack by the Porsche of IronForce by Ring Police in the final phase.

Georg Weiss celebrated his 60th birthday on the sister car with the starting number 22 “Guido”. For him, it was a dream come true to contest the ADAC TOTAL 24h Race together with his son Leonard in a Ferrari on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The father-son team was reinforced by Hendrik Still and Ferrari rookie Indy Dontje.

“If I were to turn 60 again and there was a 24-hour race, I would do everything the same way again,” says Georg Weiss. “We also had a great party on the pit roof with great guests.”

A spectacular highlight was provided by Hendrik Still, who set what was in the meantime the fastest lap of the race in 8:18.799 minutes. This was only to be beaten by Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus from the SPX class and the second-placed Manthey Porsche.

Quotes after the race

Georg Weiss (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #22): “The performance of both us and Rinaldi Racing was right. We had to change our driver pairing a bit in the run-up to the race, but it was an excellent job from everyone. The best thing about this race was doing it together with my son. I really want to take my hat off to him. His performance was phenomenal. It was the best gift he could have ever given me.”

Leonard Weiss (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #22): “I think we can be very happy with the performance. We can be proud that we came through without any damage. Driving the start in front of such a crowd is very exciting. But it was a bit of a mixed bag, other starts have worked better for me.”

Hendrik Still (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #22): “To set the second-fastest lap of the race out of all the SP9 cars was brilliant! I’m super happy with that. But of course, that’s not everything in a 24h race. More importantly, we got the car through without a scratch. A great job by all the drivers and Rinaldi Racing. Now I’m looking forward to the next races.”

Indy Dontje (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #22): “The whole team worked really well and put in a super performance. It was really fun to drive the Ferrari around the Nordschleife. This team is characterised by the fact that it is very familiar. That makes it much easier to integrate into the team. Everyone was very helpful. In the end, I got on well with the Ferrari and had a good pace.”

Daniel Keilwitz (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #11): “I am very happy that we drove through the race without any problems. That was a top job by Rinaldi Racing and my driver colleagues. The result fits and the weekend was a lot of fun. It’s also very nice that the sister car also came through without any major problems. I wish the WTM guys just as much luck and success at the next race.”

Oliver Kainz (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #11): “I am happy that we arrived. The car ran perfectly except for the track rod exchange. The goal was to finish on the podium in Pro-Am and we achieved that. We are happy with that. I think we were able to use our experience. That has brought us to where we are now. Of course, top 10 overall would have been even nicer, but we’re happy with our result.”

Jochen Krumbach (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #11): “After we had technical problems in the qualifying race, we started this race with practically no preparation. In return, we put in an excellent performance. We old hands showed the guys for once that we haven’t forgotten anything and that they have to work hard if they want to beat us.”

Alexander Mattschull (driver Ferrari 488 GT3 #11): “The 24 Hours of Nürburgring are never easy. Nevertheless, we managed to get through without single enemy contact. We can be satisfied with our result. It took me a bit of time because I haven’t driven the Nordschleife so much on the car, but after a few stints I felt very comfortable in the cockpit.”

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