3. Vindication for David Pittard
The key to the Frikadelli Ferrari’s victory, beyond its impressive pace and a favourable Balance of Performance, was its remarkably trouble-free run, in a race defined by collisions in traffic. Credit is due to the four drivers and an effort anchored by a rising British talent: 31-year-old David Pittard. The Hertfordshire driver anchored the Frikadelli attack, starting and finishing the race – and nursed worries over potentially fragile shock absorbers in the closing stages to keep Rowe Racing’s #98 BMW M4 GT3 at arm’s length over the final hour. The final gap between the pair was just 26 seconds.
Pittard was racing historics – Lotus Elan, Cortina and Chevron B8 – when in 2016 Goodwood regular Frank Stippler offered sage advice that he should head to the Nürburgring to make his name. Pittard was clearly paying attention and has since established himself as a circuit specialist. He’s enjoyed plenty of personal landmarks on the Nordschleife in the Nürburgring Endurance Series, but what he really wanted was victory in the big one – and now he’s landed it, in deeply impressive style.
“It does feel a bit like vindication,” he said. “This is my new home race, I live an hour down the road. I’ve done a bit of everything since coming here five years ago. I remember getting my first pole, my first win, my first fastest lap, the championship in 2020. But if you do the Nürburgring Endurance Series this is the crown jewel, what everything leads towards.”
Pittard was joined by two-time Porsche Le Mans winner Earl Bamber, who is notching up an enviable record of his own at the classic sports cars races. The Kiwi also has an overall Sebring 12 Hours victory to his name (from last year, with Cadillac), and is twice a winner of the Bathurst 12 Hours race for GT cars. Renowned all-rounder Nicky Catsburg was another with reason to celebrate, adding a second Nürburgring 24 victory to the first he claimed with Rowe and BMW in 2020. The fourth driver was the exotically-named Felipe Fernandez Laser.