The ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring is ready to go: Fans in the packed grandstands witnessed an exciting start, with the pole sitter taking the lead right from the start: Thomas Preining won the start duel in the #911 Manthey Porsche and led the field into the first lap ahead of the #14 GetSpeed Mercedes and David Perel in the #45 Rinaldi Ferrari. There was a lot of movement in the standings behind Grello, as numerous teams had planned an early first pit stop into their strategy. After the leaders finally entered the pit lane, the #45 Rinaldi Ferrari was in the lead ahead of the #17 GetSpeed Mercedes after one hour..
#13 Albrecht / Knechtges / Asch / Bliss (VW Beetle RSR)
4:36 p.m. Pushed into the pits, driver remains in the car. The team is looking for the issue.
4:44 p.m. Bernd Albrecht: “The exhaust mounting rubber came loose, and the charge air hose—which we had just redone this morning—slipped off. We don’t know why. That’s why we had no more power. Nothing serious, but we need to fix it. Then we’ll head back out.”
#17 Aron / Auer / Christodoulou / Grenier (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
4:21 p.m. In a battle for fifth place with car #28.
#27 Pepper / Bortolotti / Juncadella (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2)
4:48 p.m. Into the pits for a tyre change. Daniel Juncadella remains in the car. The team pits slightly early – hoping for an undercut.
#30 Walkenhorst / Breuer / Aust / Bollrath (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)
4:10 p.m. Serves drive-through penalty via pit lane.
#34 Krognes / Pittard / Thiim / Drudi (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)
4:28 p.m. Mattia Drudi overtakes Markus Winkelhock (#1 Audi).
#35 Hantke / Buchardt / Söderström / Krognes (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)
4:51 p.m. Anders Buchardt goes off in the Pflanzgarten area, heads straight into the pits.
4:56 p.m. Anders Buchardt: “I made a mistake in Pflanzgarten 1 – entered the right-hander too fast, went through the gravel and got slightly banged up. That was on me. I’m very sorry to the team – we were doing well.”
#44 Boccolacci / Heinemann / Marschall / Schuring (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
4:46 p.m. Pit stop and driver change: Dennis Marschall takes over, Tim Heinemann gets out.
4:54 p.m. Tim Heinemann: “I had imagined the start differently. I got stuck in traffic. The heat made things tough – a lot of sliding, and I tried to save the tyres early on. It’s brutal on the car. We’ve come in early to make adjustments. Hopefully it’s better at night. We have aircon, but avoid using it as it costs power.”
#59 Dörr / Dörr / Strycek / Ortmann (McLaren Artura Trophy Evo)
4:28 p.m. The Dörr McLaren passes Steve Brown under braking at Breidscheider Bridge and now leads the SP8T class.
#64 Olsen / Maini / Stippler / Owega (Ford Mustang GT3)
4:19 p.m. Maini overtakes both #44 and #48 in quick succession.
4:37 p.m. Pit stop for tyre change.
#65 Fetzer / Schumacher / Owega / Owega (Ford Mustang GT3)
4:00 p.m. Enters the pits after smoke develops on the Döttinger Höhe.
4:49 p.m. Refueling, tyre change, quick repair, back on track.
#74 Hansen / Vortkamp / Balanian / David (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo)
4:26 p.m. Short refueling stop in the pits, then back out immediately.
#97 Reeh / Lachenmayer / Trompeter / Schall (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997))
4:56 p.m. Goes off in the airfield section, narrowly avoids the tyre stack.
#98 Farfus / Krohn / Marciello / van der Linde (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)
4:02 p.m. Augusto Farfus moves into 10th place from a 17th place start.
4:18 p.m. Overtakes Gabriele Piana (#48) on the Döttinger Höhe.
#170 Kinoshita / Tischner / Tönges (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2)
4:57 p.m. Michael Tischner: “I’ve been in the car for five laps. We had to start from the back due to a small issue during pre-start. We’re in the race now.”
#277 Müller / Groth / Rupp / König (BMW 318ti (E36))
4:44 p.m. The smallest car on the grid has a clean start and is outperforming some stronger cars. A strong beginning for the family-and-friends team around Marc David Müller.
#300 Kriese / Starck / Kaffka (Dacia Logan)
4:05 p.m. Team Principal Sabine Kriese: “The engine is currently only running on two cylinders. The crew is investigating. I think it’ll go back out soon – most likely heat-related.”
#347 Gülden / Sandtler / Hennerici (Porsche 911 GT3 CUP MR)
4:12 p.m. Andy Gülden spins and hits the barrier in the airfield section.
4:16 p.m. After the crash, the car comes to a stop in Fuchsröhre, heavily smoking.
#382 Morizo / Toyoda / Ishiura / Oshima (Toyota GR Yaris)
4:09 p.m. Is pushed into the pits.
#448 Weber / Weissermel / Brandl / Müller (Porsche Cayman CM12)
4:37 p.m. Stationary on the right-hand side of the Klostertal section, facing against traffic.
#488 Carobbio / Vicenzi / Blümer / Kobos (BMW 128ti)
4:20 p.m. Crawling slowly along the Döttinger Höhe.
4:21 p.m. Reaches the end of Döttinger Höhe.
#700 Sagmeister / Huber / Vleugels / Frisse (BMW 325i (E90))
4:41 p.m. Fighting bumper-to-bumper with #100 for the class lead in BMW 325i category.
#900 Hardt / Rosenberg / Ludwig / Kiefer (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
4:32 p.m. Comes into the pit lane and is pushed into the garage by the crew.
#911 Estre / Güven / Preining / Pilet (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
4:00 p.m. The “Grello” takes the race lead.
4:02 p.m. Thomas Preining enters the Nordschleife as the leader, followed by Maro Engel (#14) and David Perel (#45).
4:15 p.m. Backmarkers expected on lap two.
4:27 p.m. Gets caught in a Code 60, allowing the chasers to close in.
4:58 p.m. Kevin Estre gets ready for his stint.
#948 Müller / Nagelsdiek / Pereira / Rivas (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
4:04 p.m. Tobias Müller leads the second starting group around the GP track.
