 during qualification for the first race of the season in Germany on Saturday.){kind=link}
Motor racing star Axcil Jefferies wrote his own piece of history after he set the new record at the Nordschleife in the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series (NLS) during qualification for the first race of the season in Germany on Saturday.
However, the race ended in disappointing fashion for Jefferies and his Italian partner Michele di Martino after starting in pole position but encountered a tyre puncture and eventually finished 10th.
It was an anti-climax conclusion to a day that had started brightly with the 27-year-old Zimbabwean making a huge improvement on the track record at Nordschleife completing the circuit in 7:50.370 minutes.
Jefferies in the Konrad-Lamborghini Huracan GT3 beat the record by Norwegian Christian Krognes of 7:51.807 minutes which was set at the Double header Nürburgring Endurance Series back in 2021.
“Taking the positives away today… Pole, new lap record around the Nordschliefe and fastest lap in the race.
“Unfortunately a puncture took us out of contention during the race…
“Onto the next one, GT World Challenge next weekend in Imola, lets gooooo,” Jefferies took to social media to celebrate his achievement.
However, the Zimbabwean felt he could have set an even better time when he knocked off the lap record in the 45th season of the German endurance series.
“A KTM blocked me for a long time on the first lap. When I swerved to overtake him, he also pulled out to overtake another vehicle. It’s going really well out there. I’m a bit disappointed because I had a 7:49 [as the forecast time] on the dashboard,” he said after claiming pole position in qualifying.
Konrad Motorsport also celebrated the achievement on social media.
Team manager Franz Konrad was full of praise for Jefferies.
“Axcil is simply a hero. He nailed a gigantic lap. We’re really happy, even if it’s just qualifying,” he said.
The season began on 26 March and will end on 22 October.
Jefferies and his team will have another chance to make amends in the series in the second round of the eight-race series set for April 9 at the same venue.
In the meantime, Jefferies shifts focus to GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with his German team Haupt Racing Team (HRT) alongside Al Faisal Al Zubair and Fabian Schiller in a number 777 Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Imola Italy this coming weekend.