The participants in the ADAC RAVENOL 24h Nürburgring kicked off race day with a one-hour warm-up. Overnight changes were put to the test one last time and final set-up work completed. While many teams headed out onto the Nordschleife, others remained on the GP track. In the end, the pace was set by the Ravenol Mercedes #80, despite its crash in yesterday’s Top Q2.
#7 Stalidzane / Paul / Engelhart / Lefterov (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2)
10:37 a.m. – Franz Konrad, Team Principal of Konrad Motorsport: “An hour ago, we received the bad news that we would have to carry an extra five kilos and run with an air restrictor 0.5 millimetres smaller. But we simply have to accept it now. That’s the situation. With two Lamborghinis right at the front, it was clearly not ideal from a BOP perspective. Still, it is what it is. We’ll go all-in from the start and push hard straight away. We have a strong grid position and, of course, we’ll be attacking from the very first lap.”
10:56 a.m. – Patricija Stalidzane: “I just did a few warm-up laps and broke in the brakes, just so I can make the most of every minute I’m in the car. The race is about to start, and I’m really, really excited. I think it’s going to be an awesome race.”
#16 Haase / Sims / Green (Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II)
10:45 a.m. – Ben Green: “The track was very dusty and dirty after all the vehicles and fans had been on it overnight. But the more laps were completed, the cleaner it became. We’re now working through our final checklists to make sure everything is ready for the race. Starting third on the grid shows we have the pace to fight at the front, but now we have to keep that up for 24 hours. Qualifying is always important, of course, but what really matters is how the team executes the race – that is, the strategy, risk management, and avoiding mistakes.”
#24 Heinrich / Vanthoor / Feller (Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Evo26)
10:38 a.m. – collided with #277 Müller / Seibel / Geisler / Harris (BMW 318ti (E36)*) at the entry to the Nordschleife.
10:53 a.m. – The Lionspeed Porsche was not seriously damaged in the collision, but will not return to the warm-up session.
#40 Posavac / Funke / Strycek / Carmona Chavez (BMW E89 Z4 (EVO 2013))
10:46 a.m. – was caught speeding in the pit lane and must therefore serve a 30-second time penalty after the first lap of the race.
#77 Wittmann / Eng / Weerts / Frijns (BMW M4 GT3 EVO)
10:23 a.m. – Team Principal Thorsten Schubert: “In these conditions, we’re running the soft tyre compound and trying to preheat the tyres thoroughly so they’re already up to temperature. Then, of course, we hope there are no damp patches and that the tyres can retain their heat. That works quite well in temperatures like these. We preheat them to 90 degrees so they’re properly warmed through, but it still takes at least one to one and a half hours, depending on the type of tyre blanket. These days it’s all digitally controlled, so nobody has to get up early anymore. Everything is managed electronically and can be monitored remotely. Thinking back more than 23 years, we used to warm tyres in a very different way.”
#317 Haugg / Waschkau / Jung / Vleugels (Audi TTs)
10:46 a.m. – was caught speeding in the pit lane and must therefore serve a 30-second time penalty after the first lap of the race.
#519 Tack / Röss / Röss (Toyota Supra*)
10:35 a.m. – came to a stop on the grass to the left of the track in the Hatzenbach section with a puncture on the left-rear tyre.
#577 Obermann / Leissing / Rosam / Trompeter (Cupra Leon Competición TCR)
10:09 a.m. – came to a halt at marshal post 25 (Goodyear Hairpin) with a technical problem.
#677 Grilli / Alpiger / Neuhauser / Tauber (BMW M240i Racing Cup*)
10:47 a.m. – was caught speeding in the pit lane and must therefore serve a 30-second time penalty after the frist lap of the race.
#800 Dormagen / Oepen / Ardelt / Müller (VW GOLF 7 GTI TCR DSG)
10:46 a.m. – was caught speeding in the pit lane and must therefore serve a 30-second time penalty after the first lap of the race.