2022 24 Hours of Nürburgring: Audi wins, trust top 8 with Mercedes-AMG
Audi dominated the 50th edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Audi Sport Team Phoenix #15 victory and 4 cars in the top 6. Mercedes-AMG ends with 2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the podium from Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed and the two Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein, by HRT in the top 8.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2022
#15 Team Phoenix Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Fred Vervisch and Robin Frijns had a careful start evolving from 23rd after one hour of racing to 13th in the second hour. During the third hour, the winning Audi emerged in the top 3.
During the eighth hour, the team took an authoritarian leadership position which they would hold on to until the end.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2022
Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, Fred Vervisch are thereby clinching their second victory at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. It is Robin Frijns’ first.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2022
Both GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 also had a careful start between the 18th (#4) and the 21st (#3) during the first hour. Entry #4 emerged in P7 during the second hour until sister #3 took definitively the lead of the GetSpeed entries during the third hour.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2022
The #3 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Adam Christodoulou, Maxi Gotz and Fabian Schiller was the strongest opponent of the Audi competing with BMW M4 GT3 #20 in P2 from the eighth hour onwards until the 16th hour when the latter lost definitively any hope of podium after touching the rail.
The #3 trio ended P2, 55.276 sec. behind the winning Audi.
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2022
GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 #4 of Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella ended on the last march of the podium, 4:05.519 min. behind the Audi #15.
Three Audi ended in the same lap as the winner and complete the top eight:
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2022
P4: Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #22 from Audi Sport Team Car Collection driven by Niederhauser, Haase, Rast, Müller,
📷 © Luc Warnotte @ 24 Hours of Nürburgring 2022
P5: Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #16 from Scherer Sport Team Phoenix with Schramm, Beretta, Winkelhock, Giermaziak.
P6: Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II #24 from Audi Sport Team Car Collection by Lionspeed with Patrick Kolb, Mattia Drudi, Christopher Mies, Patric Niederhauser.
The two Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein by HRT are one lap behind with
P7 for Raffaele Marciello, Philipp Ellis et Luca Stolz with #12
P8 for Hubert Haupt, Gabriele Piana, Marvin Dienst, Nico Bastian with #6 winning the PRO-AM class.
The first non-Audi or -Mercedes AMG is the #33 Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R driven by Patrick Pilet, Jaxon Evans, Sven Müller and Marco Seefried who ended in P9, two laps behind the winning Audi.
The top 10 is completed by #7 Konrad Motorsport GmbH Lamborghini Huracan GT3 driven by Axcil Jefferies, Jordan Pepper, who animated the race during the first hour leading several laps, Michele Di Martino, and Maximilian Hackländer. They are second in the PRO-AM class.
The Glickenhaus 004C #706 wins the SP-X class ending 12th overall.
