Marco Bedrich clinches PRTC title in thrilling final on the Nürburgring GP circuit
Nürburgring. After an exhilarating racing season, the Pfister-Racing Touring Car Challenge (PRTC) entered the home straight on September 29-30, 2023 at the 5.1 km Nürburgring GP circuit. Rounds 11 & 12 were held on the legendary race track in the Eifel region. Here, the battle for the title over the course of the season reached another peak: in the table, there were only 4 points between leading driver Dirk Ehlebracht (GER, Oberursel) and second from top Marco Bedrich (GER, Cottbus) before the start of the last racing weekend.
True to the series motto "real cars, real racing", both ambitious youngsters and experienced "gentleman drivers" in the starting field again competed against each other in the PRTC. The only female driver in the starting field, Ruth Mbabazi (CHE, Vesenaz) completed her third racing weekend of the season.
“Another thrilling touring car season is coming to an end. In the shadows of the legendary Nürburg, the driver who can take home this year’s title will be decided, but the fight for 3rd place in the championship is also exciting. Good luck to all the drivers!” said series organizer Andreas Pfister before the start of the racing weekend.
Marco Bedrich (l.) VS. Dirk Ehlebracht (r.) was the great PRTC title duel at the Nürburgring
After the first free training session, the touring car drivers went into the important qualifying session on Friday to earn their position on the starting grid. The weather at the Nürburgring was playing nicely, for the time being: the drivers were welcomed to the track by sunshine and stable conditions.
Of course, all eyes were on the results of the two title competitors. The Nürburgring GP circuit is already well known to both Bedrich and Ehlebracht, which is why both had similar requirements as they went into the time chase.
Only two tenths of a second between top contenders in the qualifying session
During the qualifying session, the two title candidates gave us a foretaste of what’s to come: an extremely close racing weekend in the battle for the title. With a lap time of 2:41:177, Marco Bedrich secured the pole position, but only just ahead of Dirk Ehlebracht’s 2:41:396.
Dario Apa (CHE, Zurich) made it to the third position in the starting field, ahead of Thomas Eckert (GER, Nuremberg).
The third starting row featured Lars Stubanus (GER, Gernsbach) and Ruth Mbabazi in front of Marcalis Shinaul (USA, Ansbach) in the CUPRA Ibiza racing car.
Making strong progress: Dario Apa from Zurich
Match point after Bedrich victory in the first race: “ex ae quo” for the last race
The first race got underway with a rolling "Indianapolis start”, and then the action on the track wasn’t long in coming.
Pole setter Bedrich had to fend off direct, hard attacks from Dirk Ehlebracht, and, lap by lap, they regularly switched positions.
There were also a few duels going on behind them: Lars Stubanus managed to pass Thomas Eckert, moving himself to a better position.
At the front, the first two had managed to give themselves a small lead, but Dario Apa in 3rd place was also able to keep up.
After a few yellow phases, caused by the large starting field on the race track, the final phase of the first race began.
Bedrich was able to assert himself against Ehlebracht and hold onto his lead. To make matters worse for Ehlebracht, shortly before the end of the race, there was a problem with the release bearing on his CHEVROLET Cruze Eurocup racing car, which left him in third place behind Dario Apa, who was enjoying his best season result so far.
He has surpassed himself and managed to turn the championship to his favor: Marco Bedrich
This race result meant that both Dirk Ehlebracht and Marco Bedrich were going into the final “ex ae quo”, with 86 points each, and with everything coming down to Saturday’s race.
Motorsport drama in the second race:
the last lap is the decider for the 2023 PRTC title.
After the first race on Friday, the weather conditions became the focus at first, as stormy and rainy weather changed the conditions completely. And yet, just as the Eifel is known for its changeable weather conditions, it became dry once more for the 2nd race on Saturday.
After the start, Dirk Ehlebracht went all in and managed to take the lead from Bedrich which, at this point in time, made him the PRTC championship leader.
At first, Ehlebracht stayed at the front and a Full Course Yellow phase kept the race neutral for a time.
Ehlebracht had thus established himself ahead of Bedrich and Apa, and also Thomas Eckert in the next position, who had managed to pass Lars Stubanus.
Marco Bedrich may well have had something to worry about: if the race were to end in a Full Course Yellow, Dirk Ehlebracht would be the winner in the overall ranking.
There was to be a final showdown, however. The last two laps of the race got underway and Dirk Ehlebracht in first place managed to lead the field into the last lap.
Marco Bedrich went straight for the attack, and the duel for the championship lasted for almost half the lap, with both contenders leaving no quarter from curve to curve and both attempting to wrangle the lead off of the other.
Podium in race 1: Dario Apa (l.), Marco Bedrich (m.) and Dirk Ehlebracht (r.)
In the last meters of the race, Marco Bedrich was able to assert himself against Dirk Ehlebracht and drive into the 2023 PRTC championship victory. Meanwhile, the winner of the last race was someone else: Dario Apa used the duel between the two drivers and took his victory ahead of Bedrich and Ehlebracht back home with him to Switzerland.
Now, all that’s left is for the outstanding drivers to celebrate their successes. The PRTC has its well-earned break until the annual champion celebration “finishing straight” takes place at the end of the year in Würzburg.
