Motorsports / 24 Stunden Nürburgring 2015, Nürburgring-Nordschleife, GER

News and Quotes 00:00 to 07:00hrs

At 5:42hrs, the sun rose over the Nürburgring and after a relatively quiet night, the 43rd ADAC Zurich 24h Race started into its final third. With 15 hours contested, the front runners have completed 94 laps. The lead is held by the BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3 (#25), with the Falken Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 (#44) following 1:53.789 minutes behind in second position. Third place is held by the Audi Sport Team WRT R8 LMS (#28). In the meantime, the crowds have witnessed 24 changes in the lead, with the last eight so far having taken place between the three currently leading cars. The fastest Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Black falcon’s 5, currently holds fifth position. The colourful brand mix in the top 10 is completed by the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (#6) and the Bentley Continental GT3 (#11) in the eighth and ninth positions respectively. 
1 – Haase / Mamerow / Rast / Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS)
01:07hrs   

Last year’s winners now have been holding the lead for 12 laps.
Altogether, there have been 12 changes in the lead, so far.
01:32hrs   
Once again, a race leader is forced into retirement. The reigning champions crash in the Pflanzgarten area. The driver, Christian Mamerow, survives the incident unharmed.
4 – Basseng / Fässler / Rockenfeller / Stippler (Audi R8 LMS)
00:51hrs  

The second Phoenix Audi stands in the garage for several laps. The engine misfired and the team now looks for the mistake to possibly be able to avoid the same problem in the sister car.
02:33hrs   
Rejoins the race.
02:46hrs   
Also retires. Pits and is pushed in the garage for good.
04:40hrs   
Basseng: “After the repair of the cable break, the car ran great and we crossed the line in 8:30 minutes on our first flying lap. But there was oil on the track in the Klostertal area and our car went off – at first without hitting something. But the Aston Martin #7 lost it for the same reason and hit us in a waxy that our race was over right away.”

5 – Bin Turki Al Faisal / Haupt / Buurman / van Lagen (Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3)
01:36hr  

Haupt for Buurman.
05:37hrs   
Buuman for van Lagen.
06:54hrs   
Pits for tyres, Buurman continues.
6 – Adam / Stanaway / Lauda / Mücke (Aston Martin Vantage GT3)
01:37hrs   

Pit stop without driver swap.
04:13hrs   
Pits.
05:26hrs   
Pits.
7 – Mücke / Turner / Lamy / Stanaway (Aston Martin Vantage GT3)
04:42hrs  

Back on the track and pits right away.
04:48hrs   
Mücke: “I went off on lubricants and crashed into the tyre walls. Now we try to repair the car and continue. The front is damaged rather badly.”
05:14hrs   
Rejoins the race.
9 – Lauck / Franchitti / Jahn / Mailleux (SCG 003c)
03:12hrs  

Power-steering failure. Car is repaired in the garage. Team uses the opportunity to also completely change the brakes.
06:30hrs   
Driver swap. Manuel Lauck for Franck Mailleux.
07:00hrs   
Pits with burning rear. The fire is extinguished right away and the car is pushed into the garage.
11 – Primat / Brück / Schmid / Seefried (Bentley Continental GT3)
05:44hrs   

Harold Primat for Clemens Schmid .
06:53hrs   
Pit stop, brake pads at the front are changed.
14 – Mayr-Melnhof / Salmon / Ohlsson / Saurenmann (Audi R8 LMS ultra)
00:13hrs  

Technical failure in the Fuchsröhre area.
16 – Busch / Busch / Frankenhout (Audi R8 LMS ultra)
06:21hrs   

Dennis Busch for Marc Busch.
22 – Engel / Seyffarth / van der Zande / Jäger (Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3)
02:14hrs   

The ROWE-SLS pits and is pushed into the team tent in the paddock right away.
02:24hrs   
The ROWE-Mercedes has been retired for good. Maro Engel: “Following another tyre damage, we are so far behind that it just doesn’t make sense to continue.”
23 – Graf / Hohenadel / Bastian / Jäger (Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3)
00:08hrs  

Switches to slicks.  00:31hrs     ?Worked its way up to fifth and keeps on setting the currently fastest lap times.
01:49hrs   
The Rowe-SLS is in problems. It pits for the second time within two laps. A damaged tyre is changed and the rear cover at the right is mended with racing tape.
03:05hrs   
Scheduled pit stop.
06:01hrs   
Hohenadel for Bastian.
06:08hrs   
Nico Bastian: “The gearbox isn’t our best friend, today. We have to go easy on the third gear and so, we shift from second just very short to third and then right away on to fourth gear. We have been doing this so long, now, that I’m convinced that we will be able to finish the race, this way. It’s not the fastest way to contest the race, but the most material-friendly one.”
25 – Martin / Luhr / Palttala / Westbrock (BMW Z4 GT3)
00:37hrs  

Westbrook for Luhr.
01:54hrs   
On lap 62, the BMW closes the gap to the leading Audi by 24 seconds.
03:14hrs   
the new leader. It’s the 16th change in the lead.
03:33hrs   
Scheduled pit stop of the leaders who will lose the lead, due to this stop.
04:35hrs   
Back in the lead with 78 laps contested.
05:22hrs   
Back in the lead with 83 laps contested. The 20th change in the lead.
06:00hrs   
Martin for Palttala.
06:46hrs   
22nd change in the lead with 93 laps contested due to the pit stop of the WRT-Audi #28.
26 – Farfus / Müller / Catsburg / Adorf (BMW Z4 GT3)
03:44hrs  

With its 8:28.620-minute lap, the Z4 brakes the 8:30-minute barrier.
03:55hrs   
The fourth in the standings has been the quickest for several laps, now.
04:12hrs   
Pit stop.
05:25hrs   
Pit stop.
06:13rs   
Adorf for Farfus.
06:19hrs   
Augusto Farfus: “The sunrise stint is the best. The atmosphere around the Nordschleife is great, the tyres are good, the car runs like a charm – everything is perfect.”
28 – Mies / Sandström / Müller / Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS)
00:26hrs   

The first lap time below 10 minutes for quite a while. With its 9:47.220-minute lap, the second-placed WRT-Audi (#28) is about 10 seconds faster than the leading #1.
01:21hrs   
Pit stop. Müller continues.
01:32hrs   
The new leader with 60 laps contested. The 15th change in the lead.
02:59hrs   
On lap 67, the leaders lose about two minutes compared to their hunters. 11:37 minutes, while the other top teams set lap times between 9:11 and 9:35 minutes. Nico Müller after his double-stint: “There are a lot of yellow flag periods. And unfortunately, many drivers already decelerate to 60kph in the case of one waved yellow flag, thus making you lose a lot of time.”
03:03hrs   
Sandström for Müller.
03:14hr   
Sandström loses 15 seconds on the leaders, on his first lap.
03:43hrs   
The WRT Audi takes the lead with 73 laps contested. The 17th change in the lead.
04:17hrs   
The leading Audi pits.
05:17hrs   
Pits.
06:43hrs   
Engineer Phillip Mondelaers: “We had a dose of bad luck in the yellow-flag zones but apart from that, we got through the night rather well. Now, we will opt for a conservative approach to not break anything and make it to the finish line.”
29 – Thiim / Joens / Kaffer / Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS)
01:53hrs   

Brake pads and discs are changed.
01:54hrs   
Pits. Kaffer continues.
35 – Buncombe / Hoshino / Krumm / Ordonez (Nissan GT-R nismo GT3)
00:25hrs   

Michael Krumm: “The weather is extremely trappy but our car fortunately survived the conditions unharmed, so far. When you enter a corner where it began to rain you haven’t got the slightest chance. You only can hope that there are some yellow flags warning you early enough.”
05:43hrs   
Kazuki Hoshino for Lucas Ordonez.
44 – Dumbreck / Henzler / Ragginger / Imperatori (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
03:04hrs   

The Falken Porsche takes the lead on lap 70. It’s the 15th change in the lead. Comes in for a scheduled pit stop following a nine-lap stint.
04:30hrs   
Pits.
05:04hrs   
Peter Dumbreck: “Morning has broken and the Falken Porsche still is in the race and going strong. This means that we have made the first step. To date, we succeeded in avoiding any close encounters and just did our own thing. I hope we will be able to continue this way.”
05:57hrs   
Brake pads are changed, driver swap: Dumbreck for Henzler. Henzler: “The track conditions are okay. But the traffic is as crazy as always.”
84 – Bleekemolen / Arnold / Menzel / Brück (Bentley Continental GT3)
00:39hrs   

The team currently is repairing the Continental by dint of a sledgehammer.
85 – Smith / Kane / Meyrick / Arnold (Bentley Continental GT3)
06:51hrs   

Kane for Smith. Smith: “Currently, it’s somewhat frustrating as you don’t have real laps, due to all the yellow flags and all the oil on the track. But driving here in the night is something very very special and a major challenge. This can be compared with no other circuit.