Matias Henkola returns to the Nürburgring this week for his fourth ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race. After three 24-hour races at the Nürburgring with BMW, the Finn will make his first Lamborghini attempt in the Nordschleife classic, piloting the Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 with co-drivers Michele Di Martino and Christopher Brück.

Preparation for the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring has been promising but not without its challenges. Halfway into the ADAC 24h Qualification Race the Konrad Motorsport team made the unusual but necessary step to change tyre suppliers. The pace shown from that moment forward left Henkola going into the season highlight feeling bullish.

“The car felt good right from the beginning at VLN1 with new tyres, but we were having problems with high-speed blow-ups and getting the tyre to last over a stint,” says Henkola.

“I don’t really have an understanding why we didn’t get it sorted, but I know other teams using the same manufacturer were having similar issues.

“The Michelins worked amazingly right from the first lap. Even if we just had to put them on the car without any setup changes mid-race at the 24h Qualification Race, we were putting down steady top 5 lap times all the time.”

In 2016, the Finnish racer battled hail and rain storms to bring the Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 to the finish in 18th place. The year before, racing Walkenhorst’s BMW M235i Racing Cup, Henkola scored second place in class.

For this year, he aims for a top 10 finish.

“I feel really good for the race! The dynamic between us drivers is great and it’s an honour for us that the team decided not to use any works drivers from Lamborghini but instead trust Chris, Michele and myself to get the job done.

“A good team dynamic is as important as a competitive car and I really feel we have both bases covered!”

The ADAC Zurich 24-Hour Race gets underway on Wednesday with the Adenauer Race Day, followed on Thursday with the first practice session and the Top 30 Shoot Out on Friday evening in which the Lamborghini team will take part. The green flag for the twice-around-the-clock is waved Saturday afternoon at 15:30 CET.

This article was originally published by GTXM.media/GT REPORT as a press release for Matias Henkola. Subscribe to the mailing list (subscribe here to the German mailing list) to receive yours directly in your inbox.