The race had been underway for just over an hour and a half when everything came to a standstill in the race control and pit lane area: a defective cooling system, which is responsible for controlling and cooling the air conditioning units in large parts of the pit building, overheated because the summer temperatures required an unusually high amount of cooling power. The result: a widespread power outage that made regular racing impossible and forced race director Walter Hornung to interrupt the 24h Nürburgring with a red flag. It took over two hours to find and fix the defect, determine how to proceed, and get the teams ready to restart. Here are the news and comments from the teams during this phase.
#1 Haase / Ludwig / Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
6:02 p.m. Christopher Haase: “I had the feeling I was a bit quicker than Maro. On the Döttinger Höhe we were about the same speed, then we drove side by side. I was ahead in Tiergarten, but that’s one of those spots where, if you’re on the right, you need to yield. So that’s what I did.”
#7 Soufi / Paul / Elkmann / Lefterov (Lamborghini Huracan GT3)
5:16 p.m. Maximilian Paul: “The start was good, then we lost a bit. In the heat, we’re lacking a bit of top speed. But we believe the cooler night temperatures will suit our car better. It was mega hot, but also mega fun. Great fans everywhere – awesome racing.”
#11 Heyer / Härtling / Fittje / Brück (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
5:09 p.m. Jannes Fittje comes to a stop in the gravel trap at the PAGID RACING curve.
5:09 p.m. The incident was not his fault – the rear-right wheel detached under braking.
#34 Krognes / Pittard / Thiim / Drudi (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)
5:33 p.m. Team boss Henry Walkenhorst: “The opening laps, as you saw, were a bit chaotic. Sadly, we already put our #35 in the gravel – not ideal, but we got it back out. Car #34 is doing quite well. We had to pit early due to tyre temperatures. Car #30 got two drive-throughs – we were a little too quick in qualifying yesterday.”
#35 Hantke / Buchardt / Söderström / Krognes (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO)
5:05 p.m. Is back out on track.
#59 Dörr / Dörr / Strycek / Ortmann (McLaren Artura Trophy Evo)
5:02 p.m. Pit stop – Ben Dörr begins a double stint.
6:57 p.m. Mike David Ortmann: “Ben Dörr started for us. We had a small penalty, so we started from the back. But Ben did a mega job, climbing from the back to the front of our group in just a few laps and pitted as leader. That shows our pace. I’m thrilled. The car only arrived about 8 or 9 days ago – it’s a lot of fun to drive.”
#66 Eichele / Wiskirchen / Wiskirchen / Wiskirchen (BMW M4 GT4 (G82))
5:05 p.m. Markus Eichele: “My stint went well. We had a solid start. It took a couple of laps for the tyres to come in. Once they overheated, I had to back off slightly. But then we were able to clock in some consistent lap times.”
#69 Derenne / Barbaro / Muytjens / Reicher (Porsche 718 Cayman (Type 982))
5:51 p.m. Too fast under Code 60 – receives a 45-second time penalty.
#77 Walker / Hagnauer / Ruhrmann / Kiefer (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS)
5:03 p.m. After technical issues in the Metzgesfeld area, the car is towed to Breidscheid and removed from the track.
#94 Kiefer / Kiefer / Kiefer / Rettenbacher (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
6:13 p.m. Violated minimum pit stop time – receives a 40-second time penalty.
#98 Farfus / Krohn / Marciello / van der Linde (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)
5:38 p.m. Team boss Hans-Peter Naundorf: “We’ve had hail, storms – but never something like this. We truly believed we’d make it through. Showing the red flag was the only correct decision.”
#150 Broadbent / Brown / Charoudin / Metzger (BMW M4 GT4 EVO (G82))
7:07 p.m. Steve Brown: “We played it safe at the start. I was in the middle of the second group, easing into the race. There was a lot going on at first, but everyone respected the long-distance nature of the race. No one did anything silly. I lost one or two spots in the opening laps, but we’re playing the long game and ready for the night.”
#277 Müller / Groth / Rupp / König (BMW 318ti (E36))
5:06 p.m. Slow lap in the airfield section.
5:10 p.m. Enters the pits after the slow lap on the Nordschleife.
5:28 p.m. Stopped in the pits – gearstick is reattached after breaking off.
#300 Kriese / Starck / Kaffka (Dacia Logan)
5:26 p.m. The replacement engine uses the wrong camshaft sensor (newer generation). The team now calls on fans for help locating one from the F4R series.
#414 Köppen / Schaflitzl / Rings / Pydys (Porsche 911 Carrera)
5:52 p.m. Too fast under yellow – receives a 32-second time penalty.
#418 Lamadrid / Mendieta / Kroner (Porsche Cayman 718)
6:03 p.m. Too fast in pit lane – receives a 30-second time penalty.
#455 Trinius / Baumann / Held / Schambony (Porsche Cayman CM12)
5:28 p.m. Located in the Hohenrain chicane area.
#542 van Vooren / Schönfelder / Petrolo / Sowada (BMW M240i Racing Cup)
5:12 p.m. Receives 30-second time penalty for pit lane speeding.
5:51 p.m. Too fast under Code 60 – receives an additional 45-second penalty.
#911 Estre / Güven / Preining / Pilet (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
5:02 p.m. Race leader comes in – Preining exits, Estre gets in.
5:12 p.m. Thomas Preining: “I really enjoyed the formation lap. Great fans, great vibe. I felt comfortable in the car right from the start. These conditions are unfamiliar, which makes tyre management tricky.”
5:16 p.m. Team Principal Martin Raeder: “Finding the right setup in this heat is not easy. We’re still learning during the race. It’s getting warmer and we need to adapt. Optimizing tyre performance while avoiding mistakes is the key.”
#918 Salewsky / Scheerbarth / Rump (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
5:53 p.m. Team boss Bernhard Mühlner: “When we lost power, we knew we had to stop. Even the timing system went down. It’s not our first blackout here – we’ve had a few at previous 24-hour races. It affects everyone equally. No point getting upset. It is what it is.”
#927 van Roon / Coronel / Meijer / van Buren (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992))
5:14 p.m. Car not yet on wheels when the 3-minute board appeared – receives a 32-second time penalty.
#978 Finken / Sander / Choi / Handrick (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))
6:13 p.m. Too fast in pit lane – receives a 30-second penalty.
