Brett Lidsey and Sorg Rennsport impressively overcame early race mechanical trouble during the opening round of the 2021 Nurburgring Endurance Series on Saturday, 17th April, to post a battling top five finish on the Northfleet driver’s debut in the GT4 class.
Things couldn’t realistically have got off to a more frustrating start for Lidsey in the four-hour race at Germany’s Nurburgring-Nordschleife when team-mate Ivan Berets was forced to stop the No.180 BMW M4 GT4 out on track on just the fourth lap of the race.
Running a competitive fifth in the ‘SP10’ GT4 class at the time, as the Russian travelled through sector two of the immense 24-kilometre track the car’s crankshaft pulley broke which led to the auxiliary belt snapping. All appeared to be lost for the Sorg duo.
After the car was recovered to the pits, though, the team feverishly got to work to make the required repairs. Enabling Lidsey to get out on track for a full stint on his bow at GT4 level, the mileage provided vital experience and the pairing went on to finish fifth in class, just nine laps down.
“The race didn’t start how we wanted it to, obviously, but after the team did such a fantastic job to get us back into the race the car was amazing to drive”, said a buzzing Lidsey, “There’s been a lot to try and adjust to, getting used to the M4 under braking with the peddle box, and there is so much more grip than the M240i we raced last year. You can really feel how direct the M4 is at high speed.
“It took a good few laps to get used to the brakes and the braking distances, but we were getting faster with every lap and that was our only aim really from the off. I just wanted to improve with each lap and understand more and more about the new car. Thankfully, the great job the team did to get us back into the race meant I was able to complete a full stint which I’m really happy about.”
Having to forego pre-event practice on Friday, 16th April, due to the restrictions placed on his budget with the added cost of stepping-up to GT4 this year, the 29-year-old’s first laps in the ‘Avia’ liveried BMW M4 came during qualifying on raceday morning.
ecuring the sixth fastest time in the grid-determining session, Lidsey – backed by Liftout, Dornack, GPL Projects Ltd and Certus Security – was delighted with his first impressions of the GT4 car as he strived to soak up as much information as possible with every lap, every corner.
Berets took the start of the race and after climbing into the top five on the opening lap, the clear aim was to continue making progress in the class battle. With Lidsey looking on from the pits, it seemed he was set to stay there when the BMW ground to a halt.
When he did eventually head out onto track with the repaired car, the British racer gained speed and confidence with each circuit of the fearsome Nordschleife. In addition to ending the race in the top five, the No.180 BMW M4 posted the fifth fastest GT4 lap of the encounter – 8m45.913 seconds.
There is now just a fortnight for Lidsey to wait until he is back in action in Germany for round two of the Nurburgring Endurance Series, taking place on Saturday, 1st May.
Images courtesy 1Vier Communication