The first qualifying session of the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring 2025 was dominated by the #1 Audi R8 LMS GT3. The team set the first fastest time of 8:14.162 minutes early on in the session, securing tomorrow’s top qualifying time. Behind them, the classification remained open for a long time until numerous incidents shook up the field.
Over the course of the two-hour practice session, there were a number of slips and technical faults. The #97 Porsche 991 GT3R had to be parked on the track in the area of the Ravenol curve with a fire, while the #16 Mercedes was stranded in the area of the Falken-Bogen and lost its best lap time due to disregarding the pit lane speed.
#1 Haase / Ludwig / Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
13:44 Christopher Haase currently leads the timesheets with a time of 8:14.162 minutes
14:10 Christopher Haase: “Sunny weather on the Nordschleife is always marvellous. The car is running smoothly. But I think we can still find a few tenths. We wanted to set a very good time right now, as we still have to qualify for the top qualifying session. That’s our top priority!”
#7 Soufi / Paul / Elkmann / Lefterov (Lamborghini Huracan GT3)
13:36 Franz Konrad, Team Principal of Konrad Motorsport: “We prepared the car well and did everything we could to be capable of winning. But getting through with one car is of course always difficult. But we are doing our best. The good weather obviously means that it will be a very fast and aggressive race. But in the heat it’s obviously an absolute battle of materials. We’ll have to wait and see how the tyres behave. If it gets that hot, then one or other tyre will give up. We simply have to get through without any scratches or contact. You can’t have a puncture here. Otherwise you’re ten minutes down and you’re out.”
14:42 Maximilian Paul: “Cool, finally back on the Nordschleife. Nice that I can be part of Konrad Motorsport. It’s nice and warm outside and hot in the car. Normally, you have good grip here, but in these temperatures, it’s a bit greasy. It’s a new experience for me, and it’s cool to take it with me. It will be important to draw the right conclusions for the race. I don’t want to make any mistakes, have a good pace and drive a clean race.”
#11 Heyer / Härtling / Fittje / Brück (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
14:44 hrs in the Falken-Bogen area
#13 Albrecht / Knechtges / Asch / Bliss (VW Beetle RSR)
14:40 hrs After a brief technical inspection, the Beetle RSR returns to the track with Oliver Bliss.
#14 Engel / Martin / Schiller / Stolz (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
14:40 Maro Engel reports on his stint: “The atmosphere is great. The first laps were good. The track is still a bit slippery, but it’s fun. Everyone has to do their laps now to find their rhythm. We’ve already qualified for the top qualifying session and can concentrate fully on the race.”
#16 Niederhauser / Vanthoor / Feller / Pilet (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
13:13 h Standing in the area of post 41 (Falken-Bogen)
13:28 Due to disregarding the speed limit in the pit lane, the best lap time of the current practice session will be cancelled.
14:24 Came to a halt due to a problem with the right drive shaft.
15:20 Managing Director Ron Moser: “We had a problem with the driveshaft, unfortunately it broke. We just don’t know exactly why. There was also a little damage to the engine, so we had to take the engine out to fix it. We’ll now put in new drive shafts and then we’ll be sorted out and can attack again tonight.”
#30 Walkenhorst / Breuer / Aust / Bollrath (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)
14:59 Spin in the area of the Goodyear bend for the Art Car for the RTL telethon
#33 Andlauer / Menzel / Müller / Picariello (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
15:01 Sven Müller: “The Nordschleife is always something special. It’s very hot today, there’s not much grip on the track in general, but I think it will get faster from lap to lap when the rubber gets on the track. For now, we’re all doing our two minimum laps to qualify. And apart from that, it’s fun to get into the rhythm, find a set-up and then fine-tune it a bit until tomorrow evening. You sweat a lot in the heat and have to drink a lot, four or five litres at least. In the car, you only have one litre for an hour, and when you get out, you’re usually thirsty. That means you haven’t drunk enough.”
#48 Arrow / Bünnagel / Kaya / Piana (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
15:27 Daan Arrow: “That doesn’t say much yet. We did a good job and had a clear lap at the start. We are already in top qualifying, so we have no pressure and can make our final preparations for the race on Saturday.”
#59 Dörr / Dörr / Strycek / Ortmann (McLaren Artura Trophy Evo)
13:41 Volker Strycek: “That was a very last-minute story. Dörr actually wanted to drive the GT3. But they changed their mind and are now using the McLaren Artura Trophy. It’s a very young project. The car arrived fresh from England and was prepared by Dörr. We were only able to do a short roll-out at the Hockenheimring. This is now the first outing on the Nordschleife.
#65 Fetzer / Schumacher / Owega / Owega (Ford Mustang GT3)
14:07 hrs is in the Schwalbenschwanz approach area.
#84 Reicher / Klien / Siedler / Hofer (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
14:48 Norbert Siedler: “I’m happy to be back here. I hadn’t been here for three years and actually didn’t want to drive again. But then I got a call and it’s always cool to be here. And being part of a team with four Austrians is also fun, of course. We’d rather not talk about the weather, you never know at the Nürburgring. But it looks really good and we hope it stays dry. Although we would also be in a good position in the rain with Michelin tyres. First of all, we want to have the blue light and get into the top qualifying positions. If we end up in the top ten, we would be satisfied.”
#94 Kiefer / Kiefer / Kiefer / Rettenbacher (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
14:19 Luca Rettenbacher: “I started as a coach for the three Kiefers when they got into motorsport. It then became more of a family project. Now I continue to coach and sit in the car with them. It’s the father with his two sons, they really enjoy it and are now driving bigger and bigger races.”
#97 Reeh / Lachenmayer / Trompeter / Schall (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997))
13:08 hrs Burning in the area of the GP circuit. Julian Reeh was able to get out unhurt.
14:05 Julian Reeh: “I heard noises coming from the back of the engine compartment that sounded a bit like the pit speed limiter had been activated. I then pulled out to the right and as I came to a standstill, the smoke was already coming towards me. I realised it was something bigger and it was burning out of the rear wheel arch. Then it was a bit unfortunate that there was no marshal nearby and it took us a moment to put everything out. We have a lot of things with us and we hope that the few things we don’t have with us aren’t broken. My feeling is that it’s engine damage. We have a second engine with us, but we’ll only see how extensive the damage is once all the panelling and underbody parts have been removed.”
#140 Dumarey / Dumarey / Rennhofer / Marchewicz (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4)
14:13 hrs With a puncture on the right rear tyre, the car is now fighting its way back from the Schwedenkreuz to the start and finish at a slow pace.
14:16 hrs The car is now in the Metzgesfeld approach area.
#160 Nakayama / Alesi / Kotaka / Koyama (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO 2023)
14:48 Hits the tyre stack in the Hatzenbach exit area.
#175 Himmels / Alboretto / Hites / Viebahn (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4)
14:37 “Alboretto”: “We first drove on tyres that we still had from the 24h Qualifiers and I haven’t squeezed out the last few seconds yet. I had a free lap and you can tell that it’s warm and the tyres are working. We want to win the class this weekend, that’s what we’ve set out to do.”
#187 Wüstenhagen / Hancke / Mijatovic / Jochimsen (BMW M4 GT4 (G82))
14:14 Nick Hancke: “It was my first two laps this weekend. It was quite normal, a bit of looking after the car. It was really fun to see all the fans and soak up the atmosphere. The car feels good and tonight we’ll see where we are. For me, this race is my life. I grew up here and this is my sixth race. It’s always fun and it’s just part of it.”
#418 Lamadrid / Mendieta / Kroner (Porsche Cayman 718)
14:44 Impact in the Fuchsröhre area. Is now in the Adenauer Forst entrance area.
#718 Griesemann / Griesemann / Adorf / Volte (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS M)
14:32 Dirk Adorf: “It was nice. It’s great to be able to drive in these conditions. There’s a lot going on at the track. There are still some people looking for their racing line. My first 24-hour race was in 1992, you have to be pretty crazy to do it year after year. For me, the race is the absolute highlight, it’s my living room. It’s simply a huge celebration among friends. When I’m commentating from the car, I can’t concentrate on talking, I have to concentrate on driving. The rest just spills out, so there’s bound to be some rubbish in there. But I just say what I feel as a racing driver. We’ve been doing this for many years and it’s incredible: I get asked about it all over the world. I wear an open helmet, which I never do, and a balaclava pulled down so that people can see: This guy is really talking.”
#827 Yan / Wong / Zhang (Lynk&Co 03 TCR)
13:30 The Lynk&Co has a technical defect in the Metzgesfeld area during the first practice session of its 24h premiere.
