Falken Motorsports’ #3 Porsche 911 GT3 R 992 took the win in NLS5 yesterday, beating Scherer Sport PHX’s #15 Audi to the line by over five minutes.
Despite the winning margin, the team’s fifth of the season was anything but a stroll in the park. In tricky, changable weather conditions trackside on the Nordschleife, its drivers and mechanics were put to the test.
The dramas started pre-race, when Bachler suffered an off on the wet track during qualifyind after sticking the car on pole, forcing the team to rush to repair the car before the start of the race.
Adding to the team’s challenging day, the car was then called into the pits early in the race as its GPS system wasn’t active following the repairs, meaning Bachler had to come in for an unscheduled stop. The team opted to change to slicks though, which proved to be a masterstroke as he steered the car to the lead.
At the next stop, Picariello took the wheel and also had contact with the guardrails at Metzgesfeld. Thankfully damage did not affect the racing speed and he continued on, pushing through the changing weather conditions to take the victory.
“The Nordschleife was really a big challenge today,” Picariello admitted. “Klaus completed two fantastic stints under difficult conditions and then handed me the car with a large lead in first place. For me, the traffic and the changing conditions were primarily about survival.”
Bachler added: “Today was really a very emotional day with many ups and downs. After qualifying, I didn’t think we’d race today. The team did a lot. The praise goes to our mechanics.”
It was a truly impressive win for the fan-favourite team, which spent time during the weekend offering taxi rides in Falken drift cars to raise money for those injured in the paddock explosion during August’s NLS weekend.
Behind Falken’s winning Porsche, Frank Stippler and Nico Bastian secured second place in the #15 Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO 2 from N24-winning team Scherer Sport PHX, coming home ahead of Dennis Fetzer, Michele Beretta and Jusuf Owega in the #6 Advan x HRT Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The race was Bastian’s first in an Audi GT3 car, but it took him no time at all to feel at home behind the wheel. He set the race’s fastest lap, an 8:01.545 during his stint.
“It was a great honor for me to drive the winning car of this year’s 24-hour race of Scherer Sport PHX together with Frank,” said the 34-year-old.
“The biggest challenge was the weather both yesterday in the test and today in the race. In my first dry lap I drove this strong lap time. For me, there was a lot of new territory this weekend. But sometimes it’s exactly what you need. In the end we came second and I had a lot of fun.”
A podium finish for Advan X HRT was also well earned, after the team started way down the order.
“In qualifying, we really struggled with the conditions and started 21st,” said Fetzer. “In the race it went quite well, at the end the sun came out, we went to the podium – that’s quite conciliatory.”
The Cup 2 class winning Porsche from Black Falcon Team 48 claimed fourth overall and finished on the lead lap, 20 seconds up the road from the AVIA W&S Motorsport Porsche that took second in the category and fifth overall.
JUTARACING’s #8 Audi R8 claimd SP9 honours with sixth, the car coming home off the lead lap but ahead of Dinamic GT’s Porsche of Adrien De Leener and Porsche factory driver Mathieu Jaminet.
The final of the 2024 NLS season will will take place on 16. November, with a standard four-hour race.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed
