Frikadelli Racing’s #30 Ferrari 296 still holds the lead of the Nürburgring 24 Hours as we head into the final quarter of the race.
Earl Bamber is currently at the wheel, with the sun now out for the final six hours, and sits nearly three minutes ahead of the #98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 that continues to hold second and apply the most pressure to the leading car.
“The car you drive into a 24-hour race isn’t the same one you arrive in at the end,” said David Pittard after his most recent morning stint. “But the car still feels super good and super fast. The guys are doing a great job. We manage our position, but there is still a long way to go.”
Third overall is the first of the Mercedes AMG GT3s, the #2 GetSpeed example being driven by Fabian Schiller, which is currently locked in an on-track battle for the final podium spot with the #4 AMG Team Bilstein GT3 of Luca Stolz.
The #4 car though, is currently under investigation for causing a collision. The team is waiting on word from race control as to whether a penalty will be necessary.
Completing the top five is the first of the Porsche 911 GT3 R 992s, the #96 from Rutronik which has had a strong run through the morning, climbing a few places. It sat eighth at the halfway mark.
You have to scan down to seventh overall to find the leading Audi R8, the #39 run by Team Land, which is a lap down. It’s been a hugely disappointing race for Audi Sport. As the race reaches its final stages its chances of a podium or better look extremely slim.
Between the 12th and 18th hours, there were a number of notable incidents, many involving SP9 runners.
BMW Junior Team’s #72 M4 GT3, which had become a podium contender by half distance, was retired at 7 am after an off caused by a puncture at Brünnchen for Daniel Harper. The #99 ROWE BMW, which also spent a good portion of the night in a top-five position, is out too after an incident.
A pair of Scherer PHX Audis were also retired in the early hours, after separate incidents for Frédéric Vervisch in the #1 and Frank Stippler in the #5 caused by an oil spillage on the Grand Prix loop.
Dimanic Motorsports’ Pirelli-shod Porsche was another GT3 car to crash out before sunrise, after a big incident with the Dacia Logan, which was also an on-the-spot retirement due to severe damage caused by the impact. Replays from the onboard of the #890 Hyundai Elantra showed Laurin Heinrich in the Porsche rear-ending the Dacia at high speed at the Stefan Bellof S. Heinrich was later handed a hefty 3,000 euro fine for causing the collision.
Another Porsche to hit trouble this morning was Falken Motorsports’ #44 911 GT3 R. It endured a 17-minute lap of the circuit, Tim Heinemann limping with a left-rear puncture during the 18th hour. Thankfully the German was able to return to the pits without causing any significant damage to the rear, though the car did fall from seventh to 11th as a result of the time lost.
With so many dramas in SP9, the leading Cup 2 Porsche – currently the #161 from KKrämer Racing – is up to 17th overall.
In SP10 for the GT4 runners, KCMG continues to hold station out front, its #47 Toyota Supra is now just outside the top 20 in 21st overall.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed
