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Despite Audi’s dominance in qualifying BMW’s M3 claimed overall victory at this weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hours.
One of the worlds’s most esteemed endurance races, contested as arguably the world’s most renowned circuit; this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours saw its fair share of drama.
The winning M3 was prepared by Schnitzer and shared between WTCC pilot Augusto Farfus, former F1 driver Pedro Lamy, Uwe Alzen and Jorg Muller. The four-man team completed 154 laps of the 25km Nurburgring Nordschleife in 24 hours of racing.
For the Schnitzer Motorsport team this is the fifth win in the "Green Hell" after previous victories in 1989, 1990, 2004 and 2005.
Porsche and Audi were expected to dominate the event, which they did initially - Audi claiming the first four slots on the qualifying grid.
When the flag dropped it was the Hybrid Porsche which appeared to have a date with destiny though, as 911s swamped the Audis as soon as the racing gathered momentum.
Does BMW's 'Ring win signal a new motorsport era of success for Munich? Agree or disagree here...
Hybrid dominance, then a retirement
In fact, the BMW win was chiefly due to the mechanical maladies of others instead of its outright pace.
The Schnitzer M3 found its way into third place with only five hours remaining, but was soon promoted into second with the demise of the no.2 Abt Sportsline Audi, apparently with a driveshaft problem.
When the race leading Manthey Racing Hybrid Porsche pulled off the track on the far side of the Nordschleife with an engine problem the Schnitzer team knew victory was probable.
While the orange and white 911 was hauled back to the pits on a truck any chance of the car – features a flywheel power conversion system and two 60kw electric motors – taking a landmark victory had long departed.
In the end it was BMW’s opportunity to gain some long lost traction for the company’s motorsport efforts with a Nurburgring 24 Hours victory. This victory also saw Portugal's Lamy equal Marcel Tiemann’s record of five Nurburgring 24 Hours victories.
The late failures for both Porsche and Audi capped miserable races for the two favoured manufacturers, which were, largely, expected to dominate the race.
Phoenix Racing’s Audi R8 LMS (Dennis Rostek, Luca Ludwig, Marc Bronzel and Markus Winkelhock) was the surprise winner of the SP9 class for GT3 machinery, one lap ahead of the Need For Speed by Schubert Racing BMW Z4 – a car that only made its GT3 debut a fortnight earlier.
Lexus goes, Aston doesn't
The pair of works Aston Martins finished second and third in the SP8 class, missing out on the laurels to one of the Lexus LF-A of Gazoo Racing. The V12 Vantage – Kermit – had held the class lead until mid-morning when a combination of fuel pump and driveshaft problems left the car and driver Richard Meaden stranded on track.
Only a team effort involving an Aston Martin Cygnet display car could bring the car back to the pits, the team only losing sixteen minutes, returned the car to the race, drivers Chris Porrit, Meaden and Peter Cate able to pull back inside the top 40 – their teammate Oliver Mathai having been taken ill earlier in the race.
It finished just behind Katie - the debutant four-door Aston Martin Rapide, which enjoyed a largely trouble free run though the race. With all respect to Aston though, they were essentially running stripped out road going Rapides.
The race, and the Nordschleife track, was as unforgiving as ever, with only 123 cars surviving to be classified finishers.
Race result
1. Müller/Farfus/Alzen/Lamy (D/BR/D/P), BMW M3 GT2, 154 laps
2. Farnbacher/Simonsen/Keen/Seefried (D/AUS/USA/D), Ferrari F430 GTC, + 3:54.1 minutes
3. Rostek/Ludwig/Bronzel/Winkelhock (D/D/D/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 1 laps
4. Hartung/Söderlund/Sandström/Öhlin (D/S/CH/S), BMW Z4 GT3, + 2
5. Jöns/Breslin/Stuck/Heyer (D/GB/A/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 2
6. Alzen/Schwager/Jäger/Bert (D/D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S, + 3
7. Werner/Müller/Priaulx/Adorf (D/D/GB/D), BMW M3 GT2, + 4
8. Zehe/Schelp/Roloff/Bullitt (D/D/D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S, + 4
9. Aust/Adams/Übler/Grossmann (D/D/D/D), BMW Z4 GT3, + 5
10. Weiland/Forbes/Riemer/Horn (D/D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, + 6
11. Gayday/Kruglyk/Basov/Schratz (UKR/UKR/R/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, + 7
12. Dumbreck/Schoysman/Tanaka/Hoshino (GB/D/J/J), Nissan Z33, + 9
13. Simon/von Saurma/Asch/Harris (D/D/D/GB), Porsche 911 GT3 RS, + 9
One of the worlds’s most esteemed endurance races, contested as arguably the world’s most renowned circuit; this year’s Nurburgring 24 Hours saw its fair share of drama.
The winning M3 was prepared by Schnitzer and shared between WTCC pilot Augusto Farfus, former F1 driver Pedro Lamy, Uwe Alzen and Jorg Muller. The four-man team completed 154 laps of the 25km Nurburgring Nordschleife in 24 hours of racing.
For the Schnitzer Motorsport team this is the fifth win in the "Green Hell" after previous victories in 1989, 1990, 2004 and 2005.
Porsche and Audi were expected to dominate the event, which they did initially - Audi claiming the first four slots on the qualifying grid.
When the flag dropped it was the Hybrid Porsche which appeared to have a date with destiny though, as 911s swamped the Audis as soon as the racing gathered momentum.
Does BMW's 'Ring win signal a new motorsport era of success for Munich? Agree or disagree here...
Hybrid dominance, then a retirement
In fact, the BMW win was chiefly due to the mechanical maladies of others instead of its outright pace.
The Schnitzer M3 found its way into third place with only five hours remaining, but was soon promoted into second with the demise of the no.2 Abt Sportsline Audi, apparently with a driveshaft problem.
When the race leading Manthey Racing Hybrid Porsche pulled off the track on the far side of the Nordschleife with an engine problem the Schnitzer team knew victory was probable.
While the orange and white 911 was hauled back to the pits on a truck any chance of the car – features a flywheel power conversion system and two 60kw electric motors – taking a landmark victory had long departed.
In the end it was BMW’s opportunity to gain some long lost traction for the company’s motorsport efforts with a Nurburgring 24 Hours victory. This victory also saw Portugal's Lamy equal Marcel Tiemann’s record of five Nurburgring 24 Hours victories.
The late failures for both Porsche and Audi capped miserable races for the two favoured manufacturers, which were, largely, expected to dominate the race.
Phoenix Racing’s Audi R8 LMS (Dennis Rostek, Luca Ludwig, Marc Bronzel and Markus Winkelhock) was the surprise winner of the SP9 class for GT3 machinery, one lap ahead of the Need For Speed by Schubert Racing BMW Z4 – a car that only made its GT3 debut a fortnight earlier.
Lexus goes, Aston doesn't
The pair of works Aston Martins finished second and third in the SP8 class, missing out on the laurels to one of the Lexus LF-A of Gazoo Racing. The V12 Vantage – Kermit – had held the class lead until mid-morning when a combination of fuel pump and driveshaft problems left the car and driver Richard Meaden stranded on track.
Only a team effort involving an Aston Martin Cygnet display car could bring the car back to the pits, the team only losing sixteen minutes, returned the car to the race, drivers Chris Porrit, Meaden and Peter Cate able to pull back inside the top 40 – their teammate Oliver Mathai having been taken ill earlier in the race.
It finished just behind Katie - the debutant four-door Aston Martin Rapide, which enjoyed a largely trouble free run though the race. With all respect to Aston though, they were essentially running stripped out road going Rapides.
The race, and the Nordschleife track, was as unforgiving as ever, with only 123 cars surviving to be classified finishers.
Race result
1. Müller/Farfus/Alzen/Lamy (D/BR/D/P), BMW M3 GT2, 154 laps
2. Farnbacher/Simonsen/Keen/Seefried (D/AUS/USA/D), Ferrari F430 GTC, + 3:54.1 minutes
3. Rostek/Ludwig/Bronzel/Winkelhock (D/D/D/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 1 laps
4. Hartung/Söderlund/Sandström/Öhlin (D/S/CH/S), BMW Z4 GT3, + 2
5. Jöns/Breslin/Stuck/Heyer (D/GB/A/D), Audi R8 LMS, + 2
6. Alzen/Schwager/Jäger/Bert (D/D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S, + 3
7. Werner/Müller/Priaulx/Adorf (D/D/GB/D), BMW M3 GT2, + 4
8. Zehe/Schelp/Roloff/Bullitt (D/D/D/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup S, + 4
9. Aust/Adams/Übler/Grossmann (D/D/D/D), BMW Z4 GT3, + 5
10. Weiland/Forbes/Riemer/Horn (D/D/D/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, + 6
11. Gayday/Kruglyk/Basov/Schratz (UKR/UKR/R/D), Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, + 7
12. Dumbreck/Schoysman/Tanaka/Hoshino (GB/D/J/J), Nissan Z33, + 9
13. Simon/von Saurma/Asch/Harris (D/D/D/GB), Porsche 911 GT3 RS, + 9