Nick Catsburg is a busy man nowadays, but that doesn’t stop the BMW and Hyundai works driver from coming to the Nürburgring to take part in the VLN season premiere with Rowe Racing. With his middle stint in the shortened 65. ADAC Westfalenfahrt, Catsburg immediately left his mark as he went on to win the first race of the Nordschleife season.

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After getting out of the BMW M6 GT3 with half an hour left in VLN1, Catsburg watched as team-mate John Edwards first lost the lead to the high-paced Manthey Racing Porsche 991.2 GT3R of Patrick Pilet, and then retook it on the final lap at the end of a Code 60 Zone.

“It was a very strange race,” Catsburg says.

“We had a good strategy and the car was fast enough. After two stints of 8 laps we suddenly found ourselves on P1!

“The Porsche was very fast at the end and overtook John, but then in the last lap he made a very big mistake: He must’ve missed the green flag which John did see – he was paying attention. VLN1 is a very busy race, a lot happens, and you always need to pay attention.

“We made no mistakes, the car was good, and we won, awesome!”

Despite the shortened race, it was important for Catsburg to get some miles in as VLN1 is the only race for the Dutchman in preparation of the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

“It’s great we eventually got to race. I got to do some nice laps. This is my only race here before the 24 Hours, so it was a good preparation, everything looked well and it was a fun day.

“With regard to the Balance of Performance, it was a bit different from before, and the tyres were a bit different as well. We learned enough.

“The car was quick and hopefully it’ll stay that way.”