24 Hours of Nürburgring SP9 entries

NUR24SRO

May 29

The 52nd ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (N24), will be staging from 30th May to 2nd June. 27 GT3 split in 25 SP9 and 2 SP-X teams will participate to the the “race of the year”.

SP9, SP-X lineups Top Qualifiers status.

The following table gives you the different lineups in SP9 and SP-X. Driver 1 and Driver 2 columns show you the drivers who participated to the first round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli at Bathurst with column “Int’l GT Pos.” giving their current ranking. Highlighted in yellow the drivers who previously won the N24 race once; in orange those who won two times. The column “Top Qualif.” gives you the ones who are already qualified for Top Qualifier 2 (“Pos” gives their ranking in the Top Qualifier 2); the other will participate to Top Qualifier 1. The top 5 of Top Qualifier 1 will also participate to Top Qualifier 2 which will define the start grid of the 52nd ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (N24),

Table 1: SP9 and SPX entry list of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (N24).

Laurens Vandoor and Ayhancan Güven will defend their Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli leadership with Estre and Preining in #911 Porsche 911 GT3 R; Matt Campbell, who also won the 12 Hours of Bathurst with Vanthoor and Güven, will defend his P1 with Kolb, Olsen and Renauer in #5 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Matt Campbell (Porsche 911 GT3 R #5): “I’m super excited to go racing on the Nordschleife again soon. This is always a major highlight and one of the best events of the entire year for me. Our tests were successful in the Eifel a few weeks ago. This was the first time I’ve driven on this legendary track since the last 24-hour race. As far as I’m concerned, it can start immediately!” Source: Porsche

Top qualifying (TQ) is scheduled 17:30 – 19:15 Friday afternoon. This individual time trial for pole position is divided into two sections: All teams in the SP9 (GT3) and SP-X classes that have not yet qualified for the decisive TQ2 will battle it out in TQ1 for the five places still up for grabs. Twelve places in the second top qualifying session have already been allocated based on the practice and race results of the previous Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) season and in the two “Qualifiers”. So the second round is where it counts: This is where the fastest of the fast compete to take pole in two flying laps on the Nordschleife. This is where the later course of the race can be decided, because those who are further back in the field will find it extremely difficult to move up the field later on. The 24h Nürburgring is probably the only endurance race in the world where the field is not neutralized by a safety car. Only short "Code 60" zones neutralize individual sections of the track in the event of an accident. This means that there are no moments in which accumulated deficits are neutralized - teams have to catch up on their own. Source: 24h-rennen.de

Previous winners participating to the 52nd ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring

Table 2: Previous winners participating to the 52nd ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring (N24)

Audi drivers Haase, Mies, Stippler and Vervisch have already won twice the N24. Kelvin van der Linde on board of #27 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo 2 and Dries Vanthoor driving ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 are also participating to the 52nd edition eying for a third victory at Nürburgring. 9 drivers are looking for a second victory.

Kévin Estre (Porsche 911 GT3 R #911), 2021 winner: “The 24-hour race is a very special annual event – especially when you get to drive the famous ‘Grello’. Last year we put in a lot of work but missed out on harvesting the fruit of those efforts. We intend to change that. Our preparation went well. We’ll have a great car for the race – so it’ll be great fun on the Nordschleife. We’ll do everything we can to hand Manthey another win.” Source: Porsche

7 manufacturers with 17 GT3 in SP9 Pro

Table 3: SP9 Pro entries per manufacturer

Porsche and Audi have been the most successful in qualifying their teams for Top Qualifier 2 with 3 Porsche 911 out of 4 entries as well as both Audis. Mercedes has only one qualified out of 4 entries and BMW none of the three entries. Top Qualifier 1 will definitively be a battle between those six GT3 (3 BMW and 3 Mercedes) with the Frikadelli Ferrari and the Walkenhorst Aston Martin.

Falken Motorsport Porsche in first and second row of Top Qualifier 2 race

📷 © Courtesy of Porsche

#33, which qualified first in NLS races, will be driven by Julian Andlauer, Klaus Bachler, Sven Müller, and Alessio Picariello who defend a P8 in the Int’l Challenge.

#44, which qualified fourth for the Top Qualifiers 2, will be driven by Joel Eriksson (currently third in the Int’l GT Challenge), Tim Heinemann, Nico Menzel and Martin Ragginger.

Ten BMW M works drivers, three BMW M4 GT3s

📷 © Luc Warnotte at 24 hours of Nürburgring 2023.

In the #72 BMW M4 GT3 from BMW M Team RMG, three members of the newly established Gen2K (BMW M works drivers born in or after 2000) will be competing: Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER), and Charles Weerts (BEL). Harper and Hesse will be racing with the Stefan Reinhold-led team for the fourth time, while Weerts makes his debut at the 24h Nürburgring. The #72 BMW M4 GT3 livery, designed by BMW M Motorsport Premium Technology Partner Shell, is especially striking at night as illuminated foil creates special visual effects in the dark.
Max Hesse (#72 BMW M4 GT3, BMW M Team RMG): “I’m really looking forward to the 24h Nürburgring. Along with the 24h Spa, it’s the most interesting and biggest racing week of the year for us. In recent years, we have always been very fast there, but unfortunately, we couldn’t bring it home for various reasons. That’s our goal this year. With Charles, we have a new line-up, and together with BMW M Team RMG, we are highly motivated. The team has done a great job preparing the car. I’m also looking forward to the many fans along the track. It will surely be a cool week!”

ROWE Racing will field two BMW M4 GT3s in the 2024 ‘Eifel marathon’. In the #98 car, which finished second in 2023, Marco Wittmann (GER) and Maxime Martin (BEL) will once again compete, now joined by their BMW M works driver colleagues Raffaele Marciello (SUI) and Augusto Farfus (BRA). Wittmann, Marciello, and Martin already secured a second-place podium finish at the 24h Qualifiers in April.

Farfus will take on a dual role on the Nordschleife this year, also starting in the #99 car. His three colleagues in that BMW M4 GT3 are Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and Dries Vanthoor (BEL), who were also part of the #98 podium crew in 2023, along with Robin Frijns (NED).

Raffaele Marciello (#98 BMW M4 GT3, ROWE Racing): “I’m very excited for my first 24h Nürburgring with BMW M Motorsport and ROWE Racing. We have prepared well, and I feel ready. We have a very strong team and very strong team-mates. This is a race I have never won, and I hope to achieve it this year. It won't be easy, but we will work hard to reach our goal.”

Sheldon van der Linde (#99 BMW M4 GT3, ROWE Racing): “I’m looking forward to the 24-hour race. This will be my fourth time competing with ROWE Racing, and we have a great line-up with Robin and Dries, and Augusto driving both cars so we have a lot of Nordschleife experience and a strong line-up. I’m very confident that we can achieve a good result. I’ve been third and second at the Nürburgring a few times, and the win is certainly on my wish list. I feel this could be the year." Source: BMW Group

Pro-Am and SP-X entries

As the following lineups do count at least one Amateur driver, they should not be able to play for overall victory but well for a class victory. Neither should the Glickenhaus be as fast as the top GT3s.

Table 4: SP9 Pro-Am entries per manufacturer