Porsche tops 24 Hours of Nürburgring Qualifyers

NUR24

Apr 15

The 24-hour event on the 25.378-kilometre combination of a shortened Grand Prix circuit and the Nürburgring Nordschleife is one of the largest endurance races in the world. This year, the popular event will be contested from 30 May to 2 June and counts towards the SRO Motorsports Group’s Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) for the first time.

Falken Motorsports’ #44 Porsche 911 GT3 R has won both qualifying races for the Nürburgring 24 Hours with drivers Tim Heinemann and Sven Müller Saturday, Nico Menzel and Martin Ragginger on Sunday. Last weekend, Falken Motorsports and Manthey EMA also won the first two NLS races of the year with the 911 GT3 R.

Two Porsche 911 top Qualifiers Race 1

📷 © Courtesy of Porsche. Porsche 911 GT3 R, Falken Motorsports (#44), Tim Heinemann (D), Sven Müller (D).

While Tim Heinemann and Sven Müller ultimately triumphed with the #44 Porsche from Falken Motorsports, the #33 sister car fought a thrilling duel for second place with #911 Manthey EMA’s “Grello”. Klaus Bachler (Porsche #911) utilised the slipstream on the long “Döttinger Höhe” and narrowly outpaced Ayhancan Güven (Porsche #44) on the final lap. A 32-second time penalty for a caution infraction subsequently dropped the second Falken car back to fifth place overall behind two Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.

📷 © Courtesy of Porsche. Porsche 911 GT3 R, Manthey EMA (#911), Thomas Preining, Ayhancan Güven

Thomas Preining (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911): “The qualifiers offer us the best possible opportunity to prepare for the Nürburgring 24 Hours under race conditions, to test the car, the tyres and the setup and also to practise overtaking in multi-class traffic – a lot is happening on the track. We overtake so many cars per lap, it’s deceptively tricky and needs to be practised. Getting the hours in at night is also important. All in all, we had a great weekend with two podium finishes.” Source: Porsche

ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers Race 1 Results

Source: .ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers

A Porsche - BMW rivalry During Qualifiers Race 2

While Herberth Motorsport’s 911 GT3 R took the lead at the start, the #44 Porsche 911 fielded by Falken Motorsports prevailed once again at the finish line – this time with Nico Menzel and Martin Ragginger at the wheel. The #33 Falken Porsche was on course for third place when it was involved in a collision a good quarter of an hour before the end of the race, forcing its retirement. Manthey EMA drivers Güven and Preining once again managed to capitalise on the situation, clinching the final podium position.

📷 © Courtesy of Porsche. Porsche 911 GT3 R, Falken Motorsports (#44), Nico Menzel (D), Martin Ragginger (A).

📷 © Courtesy of BMW Group. #98 BMW M4 GT3, ROWE Racing, Raffaele Marciello, Maxime Martin, Marco Wittmann.

Raffaele Marciello, Maxime Martin, and Marco Wittmann drove the #98 ROWE Racing car to a second-place finish on the podium.

Raffaele Marciello (#98 BMW M4 GT3, ROWE Racing): “We can be very happy with the podium today. Our pace was good, and we had a good strategy. The main goal this weekend was to prepare ourselves as well as possible for the 24-hour race because that’s where it really counts. Of course, you can never be one hundred percent perfectly prepared for such a special race, but I think we are in a good position.” Source: BMW Group

📷 © Courtesy of BMW Group. #99 BMW M4 GT3, ROWE Racing, Augusto Farfus, Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde

ROWE Racing #99 BMW M4 GT3 driven by Augusto Farfus, Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde and the BMW M Team RMV #72 BMW M4 GT3 finished in fourth and sixth places, respectively.

Sheldon van der Linde (#99 BMW M4 GT3, ROWE Racing): “Fourth place is a good result to end the weekend. We may not have had the fastest car, but our pit stops were great and ultimately got us to this position. Of course, the preparation for the 24-hour race was the main focus, and we ticked all the boxes on our list. That also applies to me personally. It was my first time this season on the Nordschleife, and I was able to complete many laps which helped me a lot. I feel very well prepared.” Source: BMW Group

ADAC 24h Nürburgring Qualifiers Race 2 Results