Mercedes-AMG claimed its third overall Nürburgring 24 Hours victory, following wins in 2013 and 2016.
With this year’s edition won by the AMG GT3 EVO, 2013 by the SLS AMG GT3, and 2016 by the AMG GT3, all three of the brand’s GT3 models have now triumphed at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
It is Winward Racing’s first win at the event, on its first start since 2019. Its previous best result was second in 2016.
Maro Engel won his second Nürburgring 24 Hours, having also been part of the 2016-winning crew, whilst it is a first victory each for Maxime Martin, Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz.
For both Schiller and Stolz, it is their first overall victory in an 24-hour race.
Martin, meanwhile, joins his father Jean-Michel as a winner of the 24-hour races at both the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps.
Second place for the #84 Red Bull Team Abt Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 is the best-ever result for the Italian marque, beating Abt’s fifth place in 2024.
This is the fourth year in a row that the pole-sitting car finished on the podium, but was not the winner.
Aston Martin also recorded a new personal best finish with third overall for the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport Vantage AMR GT3 Evo. This bests its fourth-place finish from 2018.
It is also Walkenhorst Motorsport’s first outright podium at its home event.
ROWE Racing finished fourth with its #99 BMW M4 GT3 Evo. This is the best finish for the defending winning team since 2021, when ROWE was runner-up.
A driver or team has not successfully defended overall victory since 2009, and the end of Manthey Racing’s record four-year winning streak. The last manufacturer to win back-to-back editions was Audi in 2014/15.
Fifth place for the BMW M3 Touring 24H is the best outright finish for a non-GT3 car since 2011, when a GT2-spec Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3-RSR won overall.
It was a difficult race in SP 9 Pro for Porsche, but the German marque found plenty of success in the lower classes, with nine out of a possible 11 class wins. This included a top six lockout in SP 9 Pro-Am.
With 352,000 spectators, this year’s event comfortably set a new weekend attendance record. The previous record, 280,000, was set last year, with this having broken a 14-year record held by the 2011 edition, at 250,000 spectators.
111 of the 159 starters finished the race.
The five-car V5 and VT2 Front classes were the only classes with multi-car entries to achieve a 100% finish rate.
Images courtesy of Frozenspeed and Gruppe C Photography
