UPDATE: With visibility still poor at the circuit this morning, the 7 am and 8 am updates from race control have been brief. At the time of writing (08:00) the latest bulletin states that: “The next information from race control comes at 9 am”.
Unfortunately, we are not going racing any time soon.
The 2024 running of the Nürburgring 24 Hours has been red-flagged with 16 hours and 37 minutes remaining due to issues with visibility trackside.
With fog worsening across the the circuit, stewards called all cars to the pit lane and confirmed that there would be no parc ferme rules for the teams to follow.
“During the compulsory break,” a bulletin from race control stated, “no parc fermé rules apply, so the teams can change tyres, refuel and repair damaged vehicles. The next information from race control will come at 7 in the morning.”
Race director Walter Hornung added a further explanation: “The weather doesn’t allow racing at the moment for safety reasons.
“We have some marshals who can no longer see each other. It is also no longer guaranteed that the drivers can see the marshals.
“Safety was no longer guaranteed and so I had no choice but to call red flags.
“We will now consult with the weather experts and then announce a decision relatively quickly.”
The leading car when the race was stopped was the #16 Scherer Sport PHX Audi with Christopher Mies at the wheel.
Mies took the lead from the #72 BMW M Team RMG of Daniel Harper. The two leaders were embroiled in a great battle as the conditions worsened, with the pair trading the lead after passing Arjun Maini in the #3 Bilstein Mercedes.
Two for the price of one! Mies re-takes the lead from Harper and Maini, but then BMW fights back!#IGTC | #24hNBR pic.twitter.com/qcKvESb5FQ
— Intercontinental GT Challenge (@IntercontGTC) June 1, 2024
Luca Stolz sits third in the #4 Mercedes Team HRT, ahead of Ayhancan Guven in the #911 Manthey EMA Porsche and the #27 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini with Marco Mapelli at the wheel which rounded out the top five.
The #98 ROWE Racing BMW, the #3 Bilstein Mercedes AMG, the #33 Falken Porsche and the sister #44 Falken Porsche, and the #1 Frikadelli Ferrari complete the top 10, although the Frikadelli Ferrari had just taken a pit stop a lap ago.
Also of note, when the red flag was called Daniel Harper had only just entered the pit lane.
In terms of recent incidents, an overall contender hit trouble in the past hour. The #8 GetSpeed Mercedes is now parked up in the garage after contact with the wall in Sector 5, which runs from the Schwedenkreuz to the exit of Ex-Muhle.
Adam Christodoulou managed to get the car to its garage, where it has sat since.
DSC will keep this story updated with race control bulletins during the red flag…
