The race resumed at 7:45 p.m. Behind a lead vehicle, the three starting groups set off on a guided lap, after which the race was restarted. The remaining race time until the end of the race on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. is thus 20 hours and 15 minutes. Since the starting grid was determined two laps before the interruption in accordance with the regulations, the two Porsches from Manthey (#911) and Falken (#33) were the first to return to the race and held these positions until 9:00 p.m. The #98 Rowe BMW put in a brilliant performance, moving up to P3. Here is the complete chronology from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
#1 Haase / Ludwig / Winkelhock (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
8:22 p.m. Christopher Haase goes off into the grass in the Kesselchen section. He had to avoid a slower car, slightly touched the #34 Krognes / Pittard / Thiim / Drudi (Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO) from behind and then hit the barrier with the left side of his car.
8:22 p.m. Comes into the pits, is checked briefly, then continues after refueling and a tire change.
8:23 p.m. Spin in the Ravenol-S area.
#8 Veremenko / SELV / Erhart / Kaffer (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
8:46 p.m. Spins on the approach to Schwalbenschwanz but is able to continue.
#45 Perel / Fernandez Laser / Jefferies / Neubauer (Ferrari 296 GT3)
8:22 p.m. The Ferrari visibly loses ground after the restart: having restarted from P4, it drops to P22 after 12 laps.
#63 Haupt / Assenheimer / Kolb / Müller (Ford Mustang GT3)
8:51 p.m. Hubert Haupt: “I was able to run quite well in traffic. Unfortunately, tire pressure and temperature went up, so I had to back off a little in the last two laps. It still seems too warm for the medium tyres.”
#77 Walker / Hagnauer / Ruhrmann / Kiefer (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS)
8:27 p.m. In the pits and being repaired.
8:36 p.m. The team replaced the entire engine of the Cayman during the red phase in just 2 hours and 45 minutes. The car is now six laps behind.
#98 Farfus / Krohn / Marciello / van der Linde (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)
8:05 p.m. Kelvin van der Linde enters the Nordschleife in P5, gaining four positions.
8:13 p.m. Overtakes #45 Ferrari of Fernandez Laser & Co. at the end of the start/finish straight to take P4.
8:26 p.m. Passes #14 Mercedes (Engel / Martin / Schiller / Stolz) in the GP section to take P3.
#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 and just tried to slowly find my way into the race. There was a lot going on at first, but things calmed down quickly – everyone knew it was going to be a long race. Nobody did anything stupid. I lost one or two positions in the opening laps, but we’re playing the long game and ready for the night.”
#160 Nakayama / Alesi / Kotaka / Koyama (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO 2023)
8:29 p.m. Involved in an accident – the third Toyo Tires with Ring Racing car to do so.
8:31 p.m. Collision on the approach to the Xiaomi curve with #97 (Porsche 911 GT3 Cup).
#170 Kinoshita / Tischner / Tönges (Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2)
8:10 p.m. Crash in the Ravenol-S: the Supra hits the Mühlner Cayman (#939) at the end of the start/finish straight. Both continue, but with heavy damage.
8:21 p.m. Heiko Tönges on the incident: “We actually had a good start. I passed a Cayman on the inside. Another Cayman was on the outside and used the full track width. We’re both somewhat to blame. The steering is still straight, but I think the radiator is damaged.”
#677 Alpiger / Neuhauser / Seibel / Tauber (BMW M240i Racing Cup)
8:45 p.m. Crashed into post 179 (Schwalbenschwanz approach) after contact, stops on the left. Code 60 temporarily deployed. The M240i then turns around and drives on.
#911 Estre / Güven / Preining / Pilet (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992))
8:04 p.m. Still in the lead, keeping #33 (Andlauer / Menzel / Müller / Picariello) at bay.
8:36 p.m. New fastest lap by Estre: 8:12.532 minutes.
#945 Nölken / Klohs / Nölken / Okumura (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))
8:34 p.m. Otto Klohs: “On the Döttinger Höhe, there was a lot of smoke from the engine area and a drop in power. It subsided at low revs, but the risk of total engine damage is too high. We’ll investigate.”
#959 Eichenberg / Haughton / Simon / Cate (Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport (Typ 982))
8:49 p.m. Spins at post 107 (Kallenhardt) after contact with the #98 BMW, continues after turning around.
8:58 p.m. Björn Simon: “Peter Cate was in the car, got hit by the Rowe BMW at the start of Kallenhardt and hit head-on. The suspension is crooked and the radiator seems damaged. We’ll fix it and assess further.”
