Long-time Squash – and SquashSite – Sponsor ROWE Motor Oil has collected one of the most prestigious motor racing titles after victory in the legendary Nürburgring 24-hour race.
Sponsors of Mohamed ElShorbagy, Karim Abdel Gawad, Paul Coll, Miquel Rodriguez and Greg Gaultier, the ROWE Racing department made history when their car #99 won the legendary 24h Race on the Nürburgring race track, just a week after Mohamed ElShorbagy won the Manchester Open, the first PSA event after the Covid-19 re-start.
Mission accomplished!
In the tenth year since the team was founded, and after two third-places and one runner-up finish, ROWE RACING has finally won the ADAC 24h race at the Nürburgring for the first time.
The 48th running of the legendary ‘Eifel marathon’ will go down in the 50-year history of the race, due to the lack of fans on the Nordschleife, the extremely difficult weather conditions, and a nine-and-a-half-hour break in racing.
Despite all that, Dutchman Nick Catsburg steered the #99 BMW M6 GT3 home in first place with a 15.4-second lead after 85 extremely demanding laps and 2,157.13 kilometres.
The victory was a dream come true for Catsburg and his fellow BMW works drivers, Brits Alexander Sims and Nick Yelloly. ROWE RACING also presented BMW Motorsport with its 20th overall victory in the Eifel, on the 50th anniversary of the manufacturer’s first triumph in the inaugural race.
The #98 car, driven by two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann, his fellow BMW DTM drivers Philipp Eng and Lucas Auer of Austria, and Britain’s Tom Blomqvist, finished fourth to round off a strong result for the St. Ingbert team.
“This is simply fantastic. For ten years we have come so close so often and had a lot of bad luck. Now we have finally done it. When Nick was on Döttinger Höhe on the final lap, I knew that nothing could stop us.
“When the rain started to fall more heavily, it was really extreme again – particularly in the penultimate stint. What the team has achieved here is absolutely top notch.
“It is just a shame that we were not able to celebrate this win in front of 200,000 fans. I would have preferred for them all to have been here.”
Michael Zehe, Managing Director ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GMBH
“What a fantastic win! 50 years after the first overall victory for BMW at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, we have come full circle with the 20th triumph. Congratulations to the whole ROWE RACING team, as well as drivers Nick Catsburg, Alexander Sims and Nick Yelloly.
They stuck to the plan, despite all the difficulties we mainly had in the wet, and then made a magnificent comeback in the final few hours, when the track first started to dry out before the rain returned. Thanks to a perfect team effort, everyone responsible made all the right decisions at the right time.
The closing stages, when every second counted, were incredibly nerve-racking. We have tried many times with the BMW M6 GT3 to win this iconic race, which is extremely important to BMW Motorsport. Now we have done it, and the joy at this achievement is huge.”
Jens Marquardt, BMW Group Motorsport Director
Full story and more reaction from ROWE
