The first provisional entry list for the 52nd running of the Nurburgring 24 Hours next month has been revealed. It features 130 cars on the grid and 27 cars gunning for the overall win in the SP9 and SP-X categories across eight manufacturers.
In the 25-car SP9 category for GT3 cars, reigning N24 race winner Frikadelli Racing returns to defend its title with a Ferrari 296 GT3 for Felipe Fernandez Laser, Daniel Keilwitz, Luca Ludwig and Nico Varrone.
That is the only Ferrari 296 GT3 in the field, entrusted with securing the Italian make its second N24 victory in a row.
Beyond that, Aston Martin is represented by four cars across Walkenhorst Motorsport and Prosport. Walkenhorst brings three new-for-2024 Vantage GT3s to the race.
The Audi contingent, due to Audi Sport scaling back its customer racing programme, is smaller than in years past. There are three R8 LMS GT3 evo IIs on the list. A pair are entered by Scherer Sport PHX, with a third entered by Juta Racing.
The Scherer Sport examples feature top driver line-ups. One lists Frank Stippler, Chris Mies, Ricardo Feller and Dennis Marshall. The other lists Frederic Vervisch, Chris Haase, Markus Winkelhock and Ricardo Feller.
BMW, searching for its 21st overall win in the race, will be represented by ROWE Racing and M Team RMG, who between them have three cars competing in the top class.
ROWE’s cars are stacked with factory talent. The #98 will see Raffaele Marciello, Maxime Martin, Marco Wittmann and Augusto Farfus team up. The other – the #99 – will see Farfus on double duty, with Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon Van der Linde and Robin Frijns alongside him.
Porsche and Mercedes bring the largest number of cars to the fight, with six apiece.
Porsche’s 911 GT3 R 992s come from Renauer, Lionspeed GP, Falken Motorsports, Dinamic and Manthey EMA.
Falken and Manthey’s crews stand out. Falken’s recent race-winning form in NLS competition should see it fighting at the sharp end for its first overall win in the 24 Hours.
Manthey meanwhile brings – as usual – a band of elite factory drivers tasked with delivering the team another famous win. Laurens Vanthoor, Thomas Preining, Kevin Estre and Ayhancan Güven have been selected this year.
Meanwhile, at Mercedes, there are multiple driver crews that should be in contention for the overall win. HRT under the AMG Team Bilstein (HRT), Team HRT and Advan x HRT banners will race alongside Team Getspeed and Schnitzelalm.
Picking from Mercedes’ sextet of cars is a near-impossible task. Though GetSpeed’s #130 of Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller, and HRT’s #4 featuring Luca Stolz, Maxi Götz, Daniel Juncadella and Arjun Maini stand out.
That leaves Lamborghini, with Red Bull Team ABT and Konrad Motorsport fielding Huracan GT3s. The ABT line-up will surely be one to watch, with Kelvin van der Linde, Marco Mapelli and Jordan Pepper set to share driving duties.
In SP-X, Glickenhaus Racing’s SCG004c of Thomas Mutsch, Franck Mailleux, Lance David Arnold and Come Ledogar will have an eye on the overall leaderboard and the single Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) being run by Hankook Competition that’s also entered in the category.
As expected, the SP10 class for GT4 cars is packed with quality and variety, with 14 cars entered by teams from Aston Martin, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Toyota’s customer stable.
Elsewhere the TCR category features six cars and SP3T features a quirky set of five tourers. Within that class the fan-favourite Dacia Logan will race alongside the a VW Beetle from White Angel for Fly and Help, an Audi TT, Mini Cooper and VW Golf.
Cup 2 includes 14 Porsche Cup cars which should feature towards the top of the leaderboard during the race. There are some notable names within the class. Longtime WEC and Le Mans duo Tracy Krohn and Nick Jonsson will race with RPM Racing, while Alex Brundle is named at Mühlner Motorsport as part of his ongoing programme with the longstanding team.
The 2024 Nurburgring 24 Hours is set to run from 30th May to 2nd June 2024. This year, for the first time, the race is being run as part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge series organised by the SRO.
