Perfect season start for Max Kruse Racing 14.07.2020: With a clear class win, Team Max Kruse Racing now also started into the 2020 season, which was delayed by Corona. In the first round of the DMV National Endurance Series, Marek Schaller and Benny Leuchter won the NES 8 class and finished a strong third ov

With a clear class win, Team Max Kruse Racing now also started into the 2020 season, which was delayed by Corona. In the first round of the DMV National Endurance Series, Marek Schaller and Benny Leuchter won the NES 8 class and finished a strong third overall.



Team Max Kruse Racing had to wait a long time for the season start with real motorsport. While the newly founded eSports department of the racing team drove from victory to victory in the ADAC Digital Cup, the team's real VW Golf GTI TCR could finally be woken from its extended hibernation.



On the agenda was the first run of the DMV NES 500 at the Lausitzring. With German Marek Schaller, a hopeful young talent drove the VW Golf GTI TCR with the #10, supported by TCR icon Benny Leuchter, who also helped the 17-year-old Schaller as a driver's coach.



The promotion of young talent is a declared goal of Max Kruse Racing. It's not just about improving driving skills, but the young talents get to know how to work with a professional team over a complete race weekend in demanding but not overwhelming race series. This also includes aspects such as the development of a perfect set-up or media work.



In terms of driving, both drivers showed that they belong to the absolute top in this environment. In Friday qualifying, the driver duo succeeded in putting the VW Golf GTI TCR on pole position. This meant that the team around footballer Max Kruse and VW brand ambassador Benny Leuchter was not only faster than their rivals in the NES 8 class, but also beat the significantly more powerful GT4 vehicles in the NES 9 class.



It became clear shortly after the start of the three-hour race that the GT4 racers with their almost 500 hp could not be held for long on an engine track like the Lausitzring with the 350 hp GTI. Too big was the top speed disadvantage on the long straights, so starting driver Benny Leuchter had to let the two top BMWs pull away.




As a result, a thrilling duel with the 2018 TCR Germany Champion Hari Proczyk in the Opel Astra TCR developed, which Leuchter was able to keep behind him with confidence. However, the large driver field with sometimes extreme speed differences made the race a very challenging task for the fast cars, as laps were constantly taking place. A situation that Leuchter knows only too well from the Nürburgring Nordschleife.




After one hour, youngster Marek Schaller took over the wheel and, despite his lack of experience in lap times, was able to convince with extremely strong and above all consistent lap times. This enabled Schaller to consolidate third place overall and to continue to hold the lead in the class, which is heavily populated with some top TCR racers. Shortly before the end of the race, Benny Leuchter climbed into the cockpit again and finally crossed the finish line as the clear class winner.

Benny Leuchter: "That was once a season start made to measure! We are newcomers in this series and yet we were able to drive right at the front from the start. This shows on the one hand how well the team works and on the other hand that the meticulous preparation was worth it.



The class win here was absolutely not a foregone conclusion, because there were some very well-cast and strong opponents at the start. I'm particularly proud of the performance of our youngster Marek Schaller, who has steadily improved over the whole weekend and also integrates perfectly into the team. Starting with such a success gives us a lot of self-confidence for the rest of the season.



Marek Schaller: "The race weekend summed up in one word: "bomb". Despite starting difficulties on Friday morning, we were able to clinch pole position. After Benny drove the start and I took over the car in the lead, I completed a double stint which was really hard and exhausting. But it was also incredibly fun and the car was mega good! I'm very happy about my first win in the first race and now I can't wait to go to the next race.






-Christopher Otto,  photos Max Kruse Racing