Reiter Engineering team principal and namesake Hans Reiter has explained just how much the German team learns about “the function of the cars and the durability of the parts” during the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook events they contest, citing an unprecedented gremlin that ultimately cost the #724 KTM X-BOW GTX a class win at the Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING as a good example. 

Speaking with Germany’s GT-Eins.de after the Hankook 12H HOCKENHEIMRING, Reiter explained that an unexpected amount of wear on the electrical casing caused problems for both the #724 and the #725 KTMs. The former was struck by the issue shortly before half-distance whilst drivers Horst Felbermayr Jr, Eike Angermayr, Nicolai Elghanayan and Mads Siljehaug held a seven-lap lead in the GTX class, though slick work by the team’s mechanics meant Reiter Engineering did manage to salvage 2nd in-class behind compatriot 9und11 Racing.

Reiter does admit though that endurance racing in the 24H SERIES provides Reiter Engineering the opportunity to further refine the KTM X-BOW GTX, a development of which the German team has been heavily involved with from the early going. 

“We learn so much about the function of the cars and the durability of the parts here at the CREVENTIC races,” Hans Reiter explained to GT-Eins’ Harald Gallinnis. “It's just not enough to build a halfway running car and then wait for a customer to use it and develop it for the manufacturer. There are some examples in the LMP3, GT4 or even GT3 area that show that you don't get very far with it.

"[At] Hockenheim, for example, we experienced frayed cables on the GTX's wiring harness that occurred on both cars after a certain amount of time. This means that we will modify the routing of the wiring harness in the future to make the cars more durable. Such detailed solutions are particularly important if you want to build a cost-efficient and at the same time durable car.”

Despite its issues in Hockenheim, Reiter Engineering’s #724 KTM is still 2nd in the GTX-class standings courtesy of two commanding class wins at Mugello and Circuit Paul Ricard. 

The sister #725 X-BOW meanwhile made its maiden series start at Hockenheim. The ‘GT2’ nature of the #725 however, while a pillar of the German team’s business model, did ultimately make preparations trickier ahead of the event. The aforementioned wiring harness issue eventually cost drivers Nico Pronk, Dennis Retera and Peter Kox, the latter of whom secured the category’s pole position, over 2h 40m in the pits 21 laps in.

“The white car [#725] is a chassis that we already used a week ago at the GT2 round at Hockenheim and we converted to the GTX configuration for use [in the 24H SERIES]. Such a conversion is relatively simple: all you have to do is replace the engine, which takes about a day of work. The blue Felbermayr KTM [#724] was designed from the start as a GTX for the long-distance CREVENTIC races and has now over 10,000km on the clock. The fact that we as the construction team carry out the operation then also gives us direct knowledge of which details on the car still need to be improved.

“Compared to the declining sales of the GT4, the GT2 and GTX offer us a new, lucrative business area. So far, more than 25 GTX / GT2 cars have been sold and more than 20 of them have already been delivered. Most are currently ordered in the GT2 configuration. About 25 percent are GTX. For the GT4, we are currently doing most of the business with the sale of the Evo kits.

“Both configurations of the new car offer a lot of driving performance for the money. For the price that is roughly the same as that of a current Porsche Cup, you get a car that is faster and looks more spectacular.”

Reiter Engineering is set to return for the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO on 16-17-18 July and the Hankook 24H BARCELONA on 3-4-5 September, and thus far is the only team to have taken more than one win in the GTX class in 2021.