The Verstappen Mercedes-AMG #3 and the Ravenol Mercedes-AMG #80 continue to run at the front with relatively few issues, although they now have a slightly larger safety margin. In the battle for third place involving the Rowe BMW #99, the Schubert BMW M3 Touring #81 and the Abt Lamborghini #84, the Walkenhorst Aston Martin #34 suffered a setback after receiving a 32-second time penalty for overtaking under yellow flags.
#3 Verstappen / Auer / Gounon / Juncadella (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
08:50 – pits. Verstappen gets in.
09:55 – Verstappen pits and stays in for a double stint.
#4 Goroyan / Kivtka / Berthon / Fontana (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26)
08:10 – Like several drivers before him, Berthon has his permit withdrawn with immediate effect and is disqualified from the race.
#13 Albrecht / Ecke / Sczepansky / Jäger (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
09:11 – Kurt Ecke: “We had two minor incidents. I got spun around once. I have to say that the driving has been a bit too aggressive. The gaps are basically zero. People overtake wherever they can. Because one person can overtake on the grass, that suddenly seems to be the thing now. It’s just a shame that people end up taking themselves out like that. But the weather was nice, and it was good to drive.”
#19 van Roon / Coronel / Kohlhaas / Huisman (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
09:02 – Duncan Huisman: “My stint was actually perfect. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a completely clear lap, but after the bad luck we had, everything really went perfectly. After the clutch change during the night and a bit of damage here and there, the car is now basically in good shape.”
#26 Christodoulou / Lulham / Grenier / Böckmann (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
09:22 – Mikael Grenier: “I went off in the Tiergarten section and the splitter came loose. One of the mounts is broken. I don’t know whether we’ll repair it. In any case, the race is over for us.”
#30 Kim / Bruins / Cho / Seefried (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26)
08:09 – Marco Seefried: “I have to say, somehow I got lucky this time. I got to drive the start, I got to drive into the sunset, and I got to drive into the sunrise. For our project, the main priority is tyre mileage so that we can keep progressing here. We’ve also tried a few things in the race that we probably wouldn’t necessarily do if it were purely about performance. The cold still caused us some problems, so we still have homework to do there. Nevertheless, we’ve gradually established ourselves properly in the field. We keep gaining positions now and then, and maybe in the end we’ll manage to appear on the first timing screen. At one point I drove through an extreme cloud of smoke and thought, what’s going on here again? But from the smell I could already tell that somewhere nearby someone was having a hearty breakfast.”
09:30 – the #31 pits and also switches to slicks.
#34 Krognes / Drudi / Thiim / Fernadez Laser (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)
08:51 – in the pits.
09:00 – overtakes under yellow and receives a 32-second time penalty.
#40 Posavac / Funke / Strycek / Carmona Chavez (BMW E89 Z4 (EVO 2013))
09:30 – pits and switches to slicks.
#54 Buus / Christensen / Sturm / Hartog (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26)
09:43 – Bastian Buus: “So far we’ve had a clean race. There’s not really more we can do at the moment. We simply don’t have the pace to fight right at the front. We’ve had some difficulties with the low temperatures that we didn’t expect in this form. In any case, I think the best thing we can do is keep doing what we’ve been doing—drive safely, get the car to the finish line, and then hope that we can make up a few more places that way.”
#55 Beretta / Ghiretti / Sturm / Hartog (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26)
08:08 – Alessandro Ghiretti: “It wasn’t easy out on track. We had a lot of Code 60s and yellow flags. You have to manage that well. But our base pace isn’t so bad, we’re going well and trying to keep it up. In the end we’ll see where we finish. Maybe we can still improve a little – top 10 would be mega. But so far, in my first race here, I’m quite satisfied.”
08:12 – Alessandro Ghiretti: “There was a lot going on out there, lots of Code 60s and yellow flags. I had a few clear laps and we survived. Our pace isn’t too bad. I hope we can make up a few more positions, but we’ll see. It’s my first time here, I’m still a rookie.”
08:56 – The reigning Porsche Supercup champion, Ghiretti, overtakes under yellow and therefore has to serve a 32-second stop-and-go penalty.
#59 Schädler / Weishar / Naumann / Dörr (McLaren Artura Trophy Evo)
08:18 – retires after a collision.
#71 Blank / Kaffer / Großmann / Jöns (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
09:48 – Pierre Kaffer: “I was just out for a double stint. It was very entertaining again. There were light drizzles everywhere. Even so, the track still wasn’t slippery. I think everyone was waiting for it to become slick, but that wasn’t the case. And it’s still tremendous fun to drive up here, especially now that the track is nicely clear. It’s really great to be out on the Nordschleife. And with the fans, it’s simply incredible how they’re holding out in these temperatures. It’s really, really great to be a small part of the Jutta team here. Yesterday I had a slight excursion, and we had to repair something. Then we had another unusual technical issue. That cost us a bit of time as well, but since then the car has been running well. And we’re very happy with the Audi R8 V10.”
#80 Engel / Stolz / Schiller / Martin (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
08:50 – pits for a tyre change.
08:53 – Maro Engel: “So far it’s been a very good race for us. Starting from 25th, we were able to reconnect with the leading group relatively quickly, and of course we benefited from the unfortunate retirements of our competitors.”
09:56 – pit stop: Luca Stolz gets out and hands over to Maro Engel.
#81 Klingmann / de Wilde / de Phillippi / Verhagen (BMW M3 Touring 24h)
08:19 – pits for a stop.
09:28 – pits for a tyre change.
#84 Engstler / Bortolotti / Niederhauser (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2)
08:17 – Luca Engstler pits and stays in for a double stint.
09:28 – in the pits, with no driver change. Switches to slicks.
#99 Harper / Hesse / Van der Linde / Vanthoor (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)
08:05 – Max Hesse runs slightly wide in the Veedol chicane and ends up on the grass. The young German works driver keeps the Rowe BMW under control and is able to continue immediately.
08:14 – makes light contact with the #777 at Kallenhard while lapping. Both cars are able to continue unharmed.
08:51 – pits.
#109 Morizo / Toyoda / Ishiura / Oshima (Toyota GR Yaris)
09:51 – A new engine is currently being prepared for installation in the Toyota Yaris.
#171 Walker / Ullström / Hagnauer / Klasen (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS)
09:25 – switches to treaded tyres.
#303 Kim / Wallenwein / Shin / Sepulveda Irizarry (Hyundai Motor Company ELANTRA N1 RP)
08:23 – Carlos Jose Sepulveda Irizarry: “During the night – or rather early in the evening – the car was going pretty well. Then we had a small problem with the driveshaft, but the car was able to be towed back. We repaired it, I went back out and had a pretty long night stint. Towards the end we had a smaller issue with the fuel system, but we were able to fix that too – basically it was just a small electronics fault. I went back on track, did a few laps, came back in, slept for about an hour, and now I’m here and about to do the next stint.”
#321 Mache / Brink / Rosenbach / Primke (VW GOLF 7 GTI TCR DSG)
09:33 – the car is pushed into the pits without tyres for repairs.
09:43 – the VW Golf #321 is pushed back out of the pits and fitted with slicks.
#569 Van‘t veer / Baller / de Bruijn / Gaukler (BMW 328i*)
08:12 – stopped on the right-hand side after Bergwerk with a technical issue.
#577 Obermann / Leissing / Rosam / Trompeter (Cupra Leon Competición TCR)
09:41 – Dennis Leissing: “That was my best stint so far. Conditions were completely dry, with little Code 60. On the last two laps there were no Code 60s at all, and right now it’s very nice to drive. Traffic is okay as well. Unfortunately, we had a gearbox failure in warm-up, which cost us a good starting position. So we started from the back and made up quite a bit, but then unfortunately we had problems with the driveshaft again, which also had to be changed. During the night we had some gearbox issues, changed the oil again, checked the driveshafts, and since half past one the car has been running without problems.”
09:43 – in the pits for repairs after contact at the front right.
#900 Hardt / Hites Michelson / Koslowski / Meijer (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
09:26 – During a routine stop, the mechanics secure the front bonnet with plenty of tape. The team, already heavily battered on Thursday, is performing impressively in the race and had already taken the lead on Saturday evening.
#918 Scheerbarth / Salewsky / Rebhan / Gatting (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
09:59 – Michael Rebhan: “My stint was good, but difficult. It actually rained lightly for all eight laps, always in different places and in varying amounts. Even so, we were able to maintain a relatively good pace, but it required a lot of concentration and a bit of risk. It was very, very difficult and very exhausting.”
#949 Wenisch / Graberg / Gupta / Simon (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))
09:09 – The Sorg Porsche suffers front-left suspension damage. Tommy Graberg is able to make it back to the pits.
09:18 – repairs are carried out in the garage; the driver remains in the car.
#952 Kraus / Saltvedt / Koch / Lindloff (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))
09:34 – back on track after a repair stop. The car had not been responding properly to throttle input.
#961 Rauer / Makes / Zhang / Lu (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))
09:09 – Michal Makes: “From my point of view, I had a few really good stints. We’re currently running third in class. For me, this is my very first 24h race. The pace is there, so things look good at the moment. It’s just starting to rain a little now. So Marius is out there on slicks, and we’ll see how it goes, but so far it’s been tremendous fun and things are going really well.”