The #911 ‘Grello’ Porsche 911 of Manthey Racing is an early retirement from the 2026 edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The eighth-place qualifier had been raced hard by Kevin Estre and Ayhancan Güven up to second place in the early stages, but shortly after getting back aboard the car around 7pm following a single stint for Güven, Estre went off on his own at a right-hander, damaging the rear of the car, leading to a recovery to the pits behind a course vehicle. Subsequent replay footage showed there was already fluid on the track at the point where Estre went off.
“That’s it, unfortunately. Kevin slid off the track on an oil slick; it wasn’t his fault. That’s the bitter part of this race. He tried to continue, but then the engine gave out because a belt came off. It’s beyond repair,” said Manthey’s Nicholas Raeder. “Motorsport can be very character-building. When you’re successful, you can be sure that the next setback isn’t far off. But that’s what it’s all about in the end – that you just keep going. I’m really sorry for our fans. The Grello comes with a promise: that we’ll be at the front. And unfortunately, that promise also comes with a risk. We fought hard and were right there in the mix. And even if it had been tough, we certainly would have put on a good show.”
The same fluid was also the cause of a heavy crash around the same time and place for Arjun Maini, which put an end to the challenge of #64 HRT Racing Ford. “There was oil on track, I touched it, I had no chance to avoid it to be honest,” said Maini. “Such a shame, because the car was so quick and so good, especially in the high-speed corners. Previously our main strength was straight-line speed so it shows this Evo car is a very positive upgrade. Such a shame it had to end so early, sorry for the guys that put in so much work. It’s part of racing and this is the Nordschleife.”
Retirement has also now been confirmed for the #47 KCMG Mercedes (above), involved in an earlier crash with the #16 Scherer Sport PHX Audi. The incident occurred due to a misunderstanding in the signals given by the marshals. “While a Code 60 had already been correctly lifted in the Pflanzgarten section, the Code 60 flag was still visible at the next marshal post,” read a message from the organisers. “Since this situation was completely unexpected, none of the drivers involved were penalised. The stewards requested that race control investigate and rectify the cause of the communication misunderstanding immediately.”
Image courtesy of Frozenspeed
