Highest-ever spectator turnout at the 24-hour race at Nürburgring
24h Nürburgring Race Thriller:
Ah, what a rollercoaster ride! Rowe-BMW bagged the trophy at the 53rd ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring, beating the Manthey-"Grello" by a nail-biting 1:17.810 minutes. The victorious crew, comprising Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn, Raffaele Marciello, and Kelvin van der Linde, completed 141 laps. Close on their heels was the Porsche #911, with Kevin Estre, Ayhancan Güven, and Thomas Preining in the driver's seats. However, the "Grello" crew's victory was marred by a 1:40 minute penalty, which Manthey protested but was denied by the stewards mere minutes before the finish line. The third spot went to the #54 Dinamic-Porsche, piloted by Bastian Buus, Matteo Cairoli, Loek Hartog, and Joel Sturm.
Saturday afternoon saw an unusual halt in racing - not due to rain or fog, but a major power outage. You heard it right! A summer heatwave-induced overheating cooling unit led to the failure of air conditioning units in a significant part of the pit building. This unexpected incident triggered a blackout, forcing the race to a standstill for approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes before resuming at 19:45.
With temperatures peaking at 30°C, the race drew a record-breaking 280,000 spectators over the weekend. Among them were various pilots from Duisburg and the AMC Duisburg 1950, with a total of seven vehicles, including the Max Kruse Racing Team with five cars. Despite the competitors' best efforts, only three cars from this crew managed to cross the finish line.
Trouble struck the team around Peter Posavac at 6:19 AM, as Sven Schäfer, driving the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, had a heavy impact in the Klosterthal area. Thankfully, Schäfer walked away safely, but the unfortunate incident caused a lengthy Code-60 phase due to debris on the track and significant damage to the guardrail. The #10, the VW Golf 7 GTI TCR DSG, met a similar end after colliding with another vehicle and an accident. Unfortunately, the #76 Golf and the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) with Jan Raap van Roon, Tom Coronel, Paul Meijer, and Rudy van Buren had to throw in the towel after 102 laps.
Out of the 134 vehicles that started the race, 88 crossed the finish line. Kenneth Heyer from AMC finished a respectable 13th with the #11 Mercedes AMG GT3 from the SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm team. Heyer reported, "The vehicle's far from perfect. We've got plenty of technical issues on our hands. In fact, they're carryovers from Christopher Brück's collision. We've taped the bonnet and the bumper, and it's not running smoothly." The second Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) from the Max Kruse Racing team, driven by the Fugel brothers, Moritz Oestreich, and Tom Coronel, claimed 16th place.
This year's event saw a unique scenario, with team engineer Benjamin Leuchter swapping his engineering hat for the driving seat. Alongside Johan Kristoffersen, Heiko Hammel, and Nicholas Otto, they piloted a VW Golf GTI Clubsport 24h. They completed 128 laps on the combined Nürburgring track and clinched 24th place and a class victory in AT3.
Sports enthusiasts witnessed a nail-biting finish in the world of racing at the 24h Nürburgring Race, as the victorious Rowe-BMW team narrowly beat the Manthey-"Grello" by 1:17.810 minutes. Meanwhile, the excitement of racing was momentarily halted due to a power outage caused by a summer heatwave-induced overheating cooling unit, resulting in a 2-hour and 15-minute standstill on Saturday afternoon.
