The Green Hell is calling and BWT Mücke Motorsport intend to go on the offensive! For the first time ever, the well-established Berlin-based team will compete in the 46th edition of the legendary endurance classic ADAC Zurich 24-hour race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife (10th – 13th May 2018). What is totally amazing is that the outfit will contest the race as an Audi Sport customer racing team with the Audi R8 LMS #24 and field their Audi R8 LMS #25 as BWT Mücke Motorsport.
BWT Mücke Motorsport completed the first 24-hour race in the team’s 20-year history just a few weeks ago in Dubai. The outfit achieved a sensational fifth place with their Audi R8 LMS which was the best-placed Audi in the entire field. As a result of their excellent showing and strong performance during their debut ADAC GT Masters season, Audi Sport have now decided to invite BWT Mücke Motorsport to race for them in the legendary Eifel classic.
The team will contest the first two rounds of the VLN Endurance Championship (24/03/2018 and 07/04/2018) in order to be well prepared for their big day. The outfit has already lined up once before in the VLN in 2017 and will now put that experience to good use.
Four rings with eight stars
The line-up of driver’s for the season’s stand-out event reads like a who’s who of GT3 motor racing. Last year’s winner Markus Winkelhock and Christopher Haase will drive car number 24. The Audi Sport drivers have already won this race twice and are among the really top drivers in endurance racing with wins in the 24-Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The names of the other drivers in the #24 Audi R8 LMS will be announced at a later date.
The four drivers sharing car number 25 – Stefan Mücke, Christer Joens, Marcel Fässler and Pierre Kaffer – are just as impressive. Ford works driver Mücke is a real veteran thanks to his many years of experience in the WEC (World Endurance Championship) while Swiss Audi works driver Fässler is one of the top drivers in endurance racing with three wins in the legendary 24-Hours of Le Mans and third place in the 2017 24-Hours at the Nürburgring. With Joens, who drove for BWT Mücke Motorsport recently in the 24-Hours of Dubai, the team have the services of another top Nordschleife expert with an impressive tally of 18 wins in class in the VLN to his name. Audi Sport driver Kaffer has also already more than proved his worth on the Nordschleife with three podium finishes in the 24-Hours at the Nürburgring.
ADAC Zurich 24-hour race goes pink
The two Audi R8 LMS super cars will be instantly recognizable in every situation, by day or night, regardless of the weather, since the cars will be liveried in BWT’s pink design as they line up on the grid of the combined 25.378-km Nürburgring Nordschleife/grand prix circuit. BWT will also be much in evidence in the paddock and around campsites with a big promotion for fans.
Comments on the Nürburgring 24-hour race
Peter Mücke (Team Principal): “It’s a great honour for BWT Mücke Motorsport to be able to compete as an Audi Sport team in this legendary race. 2018 marks the start of only our second season in the sports car sector with the Audi R8 LMS and we are immensely proud that our efforts and achievements have now been acknowledged by such a famous manufacturer. BWT Mücke Motorsport are used to working with a large factory after many years in the DTM, and we will do our utmost to live up to expectations.”
Matthias Kieper (Team Manager): “The ADAC Zurich 24-hour race is the biggest and most impressive event on the entire GT calendar and the Nürburgring Nordschleife is unique in the world. Both the team and I think it’s just terrific that two Audi R8 LMS cars fielded by BWT Mücke Motorsport will be lining up on the Nordschleife’s imposing grid. We got off to a great start in 24-hour racing at the 24-hour meeting in Dubai. I’m fairly certain that in view of our experience, our two Audi R8 LMS racing cars will be among the front-runners again at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. We would like to particularly thank our partner BWT. Apart from coming up with an outstanding paint job, they’ve planned quite a few big attractions for that weekend and I know that all the fans will have a great time.”
Michael Weiss (Technical Director): “We had only one goal when we switched to GT racing, we wanted to progress and ultimately contest all the GT 24-hour classics. Dubai was the start. The 24-Hours at the Nürburgring is now next up on the agenda. The Green Hell is a law to itself and even after 23 hours, no one can be certain of the win, as was impressively demonstrated in 2017. We intend to work on getting accustomed to the Nordschleife’s quirks by racing our Audi R8 LMS super cars in the VLN 1 and VLN 2. We worked well as a team in the 24-Hours of Dubai and will continue to perfect our way of working together in the VLN in order to be well prepared for the 24-hour race.”
Source. Mücke Motorsport
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