GTWC Europe: Conrad Laursen Retires From the Lead at Nürburgring

The 19-year-old Ferrari driver started from pole and was leading his class when he was pushed off the track with less than an hour remaining of the GT World Challenge race at Nürburgring.

It looked like yet another top result for Conrad Laursen, Dennis Marschall, Dustin Blattner and the rest of the Kessel Racing squad in this weekend’s round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Germany’s Nürburgring. The trio first secured pole position in the Bronze Cup category, and while Blattner started the race, it was Conrad Laursen’s task to steer the team’s Ferrari 296 GT3 through the middle phase of the race.

A task the young Dane solved with top marks, and with less than an hour on the clock the team was still in a commanding position in the class. It all came to an abrupt end, however, when Laursen was innocently caught up in a collision – a damaged rival veered off and simply torpedoed the Dane, sending him into the gravel and ultimately forcing the team to retire.

“Such a shame. We had really strong pace this weekend and just needed to stay out of trouble along the way. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, and even if you’re not at fault, it’s still hugely frustrating,” said Conrad Laursen.

On the positive side, Laursen, Marschall and Blattner arrived at Nürburgring with a comfortable lead in both the Endurance Cup standings and the overall GT World Challenge Europe championship. A lead which the team retains despite missing out on points from Sunday’s race.

“It turned out to be a weekend to forget, but now we’re looking ahead to the season finale. The team is leading every championship there is to lead in this series, and the goal is of course to seal the deal there,” Laursen concluded.

While the final round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup takes place in Barcelona on October 12, Conrad Laursen will already be back in action on September 14 at Silverstone, competing in the fifth round of the European Le Mans Series with AF Corse.