Safety first: Due to dense fog, the race control opted for red-flagging the 46th ADAC Zurich 24h Race at 11:59hrs CEST. The race couldn’t be continued as the marshals couldn’t see the next post what made the communication between the marshals impossible. At this point in time, the Manthey-Porsche #912, the Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 #4 and the third-placed Aston Martin V8 Vantage #7 entertained the crowds with an intense and thrilling battle for the lead. Around 12:30hrs, the Porsche lost the lead to the Mercedes-AMG due to a 3:32-minute time penalty for speeding in a Code-60 zone.
11:59hrs race is red-flagged
#1 – Audi R8 LMS (Mies,van der Linde,van der Linde,Rast)
11:47hrs Christopher Mies spins while braking into the Adenauer Forst and hits the crash barrier to the right. He can continue right away and lost only some 15 seconds.
#3 – Audi R8 LMS GT3 (Haase,Stippler,Vervisch,Müller)
11:39hrs Frederic Vervisch: “I try to survive. It’s extremely slippery. You try to be fast and keep the car on the track at the same time. I had some moments. Remember: anything still can happen.”
#4 – Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Engel,Christodoulou,Metzger,Müller)
10:59hrs Dirk Müller: “Just crazy! A fantastic team effort. We knew exactly when the rain would come. I save a lot of fuel and so, we could do a nine-lap stint. I drove from the wet into the dry and back into the wet. Pure madness. We had shod the car with the proper tyres at the perfect point in time.”
#5 – Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Buurman,Jäger,Seyffarth,Stolz)
11:28hrs Yelmer Buurman following his stint: “The conditions changed lap by lap. I opted for going out on intermediates and driving with them proved to be difficult on the first lap – but got better afterwards. From the fourth lap the rain got heavier and I had to pit for wets. Nonetheless I had aquaplaning and was struggling. But I think my pace was good and that felt great.”
#16 – Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Heyer,Asch,Sandström,Vautier)
11:11hrs Tristan Vautier: “It’s my first Nürburgring 24h Race. My mission is clear: to take the car back to the pits unharmed and learn a lot. We now are in the top 10 – with big gaps to the cars ahead and behind. We just want to make it to the chequered flag.”
#24 – Audi R8 LMS (Winkelhock,Rockenfeller,Haase,Müller)
10:35hrs Spins in the Ravenol-Curve
#102 – BMW M6 GT3 (Farfus,Palttala,Krognes,Schiller)
10:39hrs Augusto Farfus: “I was sliding around massively, during my stint, as I had opted for the wrong tyre compound. The team asked me to stay out, nevertheless – and so I just gave my best.”
#912 – Porsche 911 GT3 R (Lietz,Pilet,Makowiecki,Tandy)
11:30hrs Pits and serves – at first – its 3:32-minute time penalty for Code-60-zone speeding.
