Manthey’s #911 ‘Grello’ Porsche 911 GT3 R 992 will start from pole position in the 2025 running of the Nüburgring 24 Hours tomorrow afternoon.
Factory ace Kevin Estre set the team’s time and put Porsche on pole for the race for the first time in seven years with an 8:12.741 on the Nordschleife.
The Frenchman delivered a head-turning performance in the shortened single-lap Top Qualifying, setting four purple sectors en route to claiming the best starting spot for the race by 1.1 seconds.
“There is nothing better than driving a round alone on the Nordschleife in the ‘Grello’, with new tyres and without traffic,” Estre said. “That’s unbelievable. I’m really looking forward to the weekend.
“We have great conditions, maybe a bit too much for the tyres, but good for the fans. We’ll let Thomas Preining drive tomorrow. I’ve done my job for the weekend.”
The format for the session, which started late after lengthy barrier repairs following Laurens Vanthoor’s shunt earlier in the afternoon, was tweaked on short notice and reduced to a single-lap run rather than two.
Behind Estre, Thomas Neubauer put the #45 Kondo Racing Ferrari second with an impressive 8:13.909 in the Yokohama-shod 296 GT3.
The second row on the grid will be occupied by the #14 GetSpeed Mercedes following an 8:14.233 from Maro Engel, and the #33 Falken Porsche, which Nico Menzel steered.
Mirko Bortolotti, who ran fastest of anyone in Sector 1, completed the top five in the #27 Red Bull Team ABT Lamborghini. He is, however, under investigation for a red flag infringement at the time of writing.
The remaining spots in the top 10 went to the #1 Scherer Sport PHX Audi of Marcus Winkelhock, #28 ABT Lamborghini, #35 Walkenhorst Aston Martin, #48 Black Falken Porsche and #17 GetSpeed AMG, respectively.
Only 15 of the 17 cars entered for Top Qualifying completed laps in the final shootout.
The #16 Scherer Sport PHX Porsche was unable to run after its heavy shunt at Aremberg that brought out the red flag.
A team spokesperson explained to DSC that the 911 is damaged beyond repair and has been withdrawn from the race meeting. The team will not utilise a spare chassis and instead focus its efforts on the #1 Audi.
As for Vanthoor, Scherer Sport PHX has confirmed to DSC that he is ‘ok’ and was released from the circuit medical centre after being seen by both the circuit doctor and Porsche’s dedicated doctor.
The #11 Schnitzelalm Mercedes also didn’t set a time, after Jay Mo Hartling stopped at Pflanzgarten on his flying lap.
Following the delayed Top Qualifying session, the third and final Qualifying session for the other classes in the race got underway, setting the rest of the grid for the race.
The #830 Hyundai Elantra N TCR will start from pole in the TCR category with a 8:52.924 from Manuel Lauck. The sister car, the #831 with Robert Wickens in the driver line-up, ended up second.
SR Motorsport by Schnitzelalm’s #111 Mercedes AMG GT4 proved to be the fastest car in SP 10 with a 9:00.245.
SP 3T, which features a wide variety of cars, including the brand new BMW M2 Racing, the Dacia Logan and Hyundai’s Elantra N1 Cup car, was paced by the #321 VW Golf 7 GTI TCR DSG.
None of the SP 9 GT3 cars that took part bettered Christopher Haase’s Q2 hot lap from last night in the #1 Scherer Sport PHX Audi R8. Dennis Olsen set the best time in the 65-minute run, a 8:15.043 in the #64 HRT Ford Mustang GT3.
The 2025 Nürburgring 24 Hours is set to get underway at 16:00 local time tomorrow.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed
