Nürburg. At this year’s 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, the Bulldog Racing Team impressed with their MINI John Cooper Works Edition with a manual gearbox, securing a 2nd place in the class for turbocharged vehicles with a displacement of 1,600 to 2,000 cc.

In preparation for future races, Bulldog Racing decided to participate in the seventh round of the Rundstrecken-Challenge Nürburgring 2023 (RCN) with their MINI John Cooper Works Edition. The race took place on the 24.358-kilometre track variant (Nordschleife + GP short circuit) under sunny and warm weather conditions. The total race distance was 13 laps.

Behind the wheel this time were drivers Jens Dralle (GER) and Christoph Kragenings (GER). Jens Dralle previously competed for Bulldog Racing in the red MINI John Cooper Works in the SP3T class at the 2022 24-hour race. Christoph Kragenings made his 24-hour race debut earlier this year in the manual MINI John Cooper Works Edition and achieved the best result for a MINI in the brand’s 64-year history.

In the highly competitive VT2 class with 19 participants, the duo of Dralle/Kragenings secured a solid 7th place within their class and 48th place overall out of the 149 cars that started the race, earning a total of 4974.0 points.

The Rundstrecken-Challenge is not solely focused on achieving the fastest lap times but also emphasizes consistency. After four sprint laps, competitors must try to recreate the lap time set in the first lap as closely as possible. This unique requirement sets the Rundstrecken-Challenge races apart from conventional races. The RCN e.V. will host the renowned 3-hour “Schwedenkreuz” race on October 28th, which will mark the end of the season and follow the standard endurance race format at the Nürburgring.

For Bulldog Racing, the final race of the RCN season presents a valuable opportunity to participate before the winter break and prepare their MINI John Cooper Works race cars, which are proudly “Made in Nürburg,” for the 2024 racing season.