Since the introduction of the international GT3 class at the Nürburgring in 2009, the starting grid of this category has been featuring a consistently growing variety with more and more potential winners making for fascinating motor racing.
While the previous years were dominated by enhanced GT vehicles, buying a ready-made potential winner was possible from 2009.
Although it took the GT3 racers two years to prevail in the battle for the overall win, the new racing cars were able to match the pace of the quickest right away, a fact that was demonstrated by the pole position in the debut season.
Number of competitors 24h Race:
2009: 23 Competitors
2010: 27 Competitors
2011: 26 Competitors
2012: 31 Competitors
2013: 33 Competitors
2014: 31 Competitors
2015: 31 Competitors
2016: 38 Competitors
2017: 33 Competitors
2018: 31 Competitors
Total: 304 Competitors
2019: 34 Competitors
Total: 338 Competitors
14 different brands raced in the GT3 category from 2009 to 2018:
Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Audi, Ferrari, BMW, Lamborghini, Bentley, Nissan, McLaren, Chevrolet, Dodge, Alpina and Ford. In 2019, Lexus will be the 15th brand.
From 2009 to 2018, three different brands made it to the top step, with the GT3 debut win having been secured in 2012:
2012: Audi
2013: Mercedes-AMG
2014: Audi
2015: Audi
2016: Mercedes-AMG
2017: Audi
2018: Porsche
4x Audi, 2x Mercedes-AMG, 1x Porsche
Pole positions clinched GT3 Teams:
2009: Ford GT
2010: Audi R8 LMS
2012: BMW Z4 GT3
2013: Audi R8 LMS ultra
2014: McLaren MP4-12C GT3
2015: BMW Z4 GT3
2016: Mercedes AMG GT3
2018:Porsche 911 GT3R (Laurens Vanthoor: 8:09.105 Min., new 24h-Race qualifying lap record)
Fastest race lap and 24h-Race lap record:
2018: Nick Tandy – Porsche 911 GT3R – 8:17.340 Min.
