Rapid BMW M240i racer Brett Lidsey continued his fantastically consistent early-season momentum during the latest round of the Nurburgring Endurance Series at Germany’s Nurburgring-Nordschleife on Saturday, with his second top four finish in as many races. 

In contention for the Cup5 Class podium during round four of the campaign at the 24-kilometre track, having qualified an excellent second fastest in the wet earlier in the morning, Northfleet’s Lidsey eventually had to settle for the top four race result with team-mate Ivan Berets.

Confirming the terrific speed of the Sorg Rennsport prepared and Gerri Limonade liveried No.694 BMW, Kent 28-year-old Lidsey also posted the third fastest lap of the race with a time of 9m15.923 seconds to underline his clear and proven potential in the ultra-competitive championship.

“I’m pleased with P4 again”, said a very positive Lidsey, “It’s a bit disappointing we couldn’t quite make it to the podium but we were in contention again, and I was really happy to be second fastest in the wet in the qualifying session. On pace, we definitely had the potential to finish the race in the top three this weekend.

“We had to mount a hard fight back after Ivan had an off through the gravel at Aremberg, which dropped us down to about P8, but to come back from that and fight through to finish fourth was really good going. As always, a huge thank you to my sponsors Liftout and Dornack and to the guys at Sorg Rennsport for putting a fantastic car together.”

Round four of the season marked the first event of the year where Lidsey and Berets competed together as only a two-driver entry, with regular third driver Kevin Wolters absent for the weekend. Berets set the fourth quickest lap in the Cup5 Class initially in qualifying, before Lidsey improved to an excellent second fastest in the wet during the latter stages to secure a front-row start.

Berets took the first stint of the four-hour race, which began at midday local time, and although slipping back to eighth after a moment through the gravel during the early going, he was able to latch on to the battle behind the top three. When the initial pit-stops started to be served around the end of the opening hour, Berets stayed out on track and climbed into second as a result.

Stopping to hand the BMW over to British driver Lidsey with around 75 minutes completed, when the first-year endurance racer took to the track he immediately got up to speed and when the order settled he was in the top five.

Making great progress, Lidsey closed down the gap to the podium contenders and he too climbed into second position by the conclusion of his first stint with around an hour and a half to go. By that point, Lidsey was just 16 seconds shy of the class leader.

Berets climbed back behind the wheel at the second stop and emerged on track in fifth position and with only 30 minutes to go he had moved through to the class lead – albeit momentarily, as a result of being out of sequence with the final round of pit-stops. Lidsey jumped back in the BMW for the run to the chequered flag and he completed another hugely competitive outing in fourth position.

“It’s been a great start to my first season racing at this level and I’m confident our first podium is only a matter of time, hopefully at the next round!”, Lidsey commented, “With every weekend we get quicker and quicker, so I can’t wait to be back at the Nordschleife in a few weeks.” 

Lidsey will return to action in the Nurburgring Endurance Series on Saturday, 29th August, for round five of the rescheduled 2020 season.