The 44th running of the Nürburgring is finally upon us. With 158 cars set to start, and 38 of them coming from the top-tier SP9 class, it has the potential to be a modern classic.
With a fleet of new GT3 cars in the SP9 (FIA GT3) class from Mercedes, BMW and Porsche, it’s going to be a landmark year for the category. Just one glance at the entry shows you just how much the German marques want to win it.
The speed restrictions imposed last year are gone, a new permit system is in place and the TV coverage will run for the entire race for the first time.
There’s so many storylines to follow, many covered below, but one key one is the weather rather than the cars (as always). The VLN races, tests and N24 Qualifying Race in the build up have seen rain, fog, snow and low temperatures, so tyre choice could be key here. Running in warm weather for the teams has been rare so far, so if it turns into a scorcher in the Eiffel region on Saturday and Sunday then who knows what will happen?
As the countdown to green truly begins on race week, here’s DSC’s rundown of all the key entries in this weekend’s race:
SP9
Aston Martin: 2 cars
Aston Martin Racing is back for another attack at the N24 with a pair of Dunlop-shod Vantages. The Vantage is still a force in GT3 on its day, and Dunlop rubber in the past has been the tyre of choice in mixed conditions at the ‘Ring.
The driver lineup across the two cars is pretty formidable, with Nicki Thiim, Darren Turner, Marco Sorensen and Pedro Lamy in the #7 and Jonny Adam, Fernando Rees, Mathias Lauda and Richie Stanaway sharing the #27.
It will be interesting to see if they can be a cat amongst the pigeons in the class, after years of experience at the N24 with the Vantage.
Audi: 9 cars
The Audi R8 LMS still feels like the new GT3 car on the block, yet it’s already got over a year of racing under its belt. Last year’s 24 saw the car come out in dominant fashion and win in its first attempt at a long-distance race, and the brand’s third at the N24.
This year, Audi has scaled back its factory-backed efforts to just two cars, though the remaining seven are still capable. With a proven car and a set of formidable drivers, don’t count the four rings out of this one up against the new machinery from its fellow German brands.
Belgian GT3-stalwarts WRT and Phoenix Racing both bring a pair of R8s to the race, with a factory-blessed car each. For WRT, Laurens Vanthoor, Christopher Mies, Nico Müller and Pierre Kaffer will start in the #1 after winning the race in 2015. Phoenix’s headlining #6 entry meanwhile is sure to bring fireworks too, with Christopher Haase, Rene Rast, Markus Winkelhock and Frank Stippler.
Of the other R8s, montaplast by Land Motorsport’s #28 catches the eye, with a very ‘factory’ looking set of driving talent. Aboard the green machine will be Marc Basseng, Connor De Phillippi, Mike Rockefeller and Timo Scheider. It could be a very interesting first attempt at the ‘Ring 24 for the team with the ‘Four Rings’.
The other new Audi team for the 24 hours is from Car Collection Motorsport, which races regularly in ADAC GT Masters. Notably it marks the return of a blue Felbermayr-liveried machine to top-line GT racing.
Bentley: 2 cars
Bentley’s two-pronged attack this year comes in the form of an M-Sport-supported Bentley Team Abt team motivated to finish well.
After the British marque made an appearance last year with HTP, its new German customers are representing them this year with ‘Ring specialist Christopher Brück sharing with Steven Kane and Christer Jöns in the #37, and Christian Menzel, Le Mans winner Guy Smith, Marco Holzer and Fabian Hamprecht in the #38.
BMW: 7 cars
BMW is bringing out the big guns for its 100th anniversary, and has loaded up four new M6s with star-studded lineups to try and take the win this year with Schubert Motorsport and ROWE Racing.
Last time out in the VLN, the M6 won its first ever race, scoring a 1-2-3 overall in the process, providing evidence that the car is ready to make a splash so early in its development cycle.
The eight drivers in Schubert’s M6s are all quick, and experienced. The #17 will have John Edwards, Jens Klingmann, Lucas Luhr and Martin Tomczyk, while the #18 has Augusto Farfus Jesse Krohn, Jörg Müller and Marco Wittmann aboard.
ROWE too, on its BMW debut at the ‘Ring 24 has a perfect mixture of speed, consistency and experience in its cars.
The #22 of Klaus Graf, Richard Westbrook, Nicky Catsburg and Markus Palttala or the #23 of Alexander Sims, Philipp Eng, Maxime Martin and Dirk Werner are two of the best lineups in the race.
Of the other BMWs competing, Walkenhorst brings two M6s and one Z4 to the party. DSC columnist George Richardson is aboard the #101 car which has Polyphony Digital’s vice president Kazunori Yamauchi aboard, who in the past has driven in Schulze Motorsport’s Nissan GT-Rs.
It’s had a tough start to the season, with multiple incidents costing its drivers valuable driving time. The car looks stunning in PlayStation blue though, and could well be a dark horse for the race if Richardson and Mathias Henkola are on the top of their game during stints.
Lamborghini: 1 car
Lamborghini hasn’t been represented at the Nürburgring 24 since the last time the Stuck family drove a Gallardo back in 2011, so to see Konrad enter a Huracan is a pleasant surprise.
At the time of writing only Franz Konrad and Christopher Zöckling were confirmed to drive the car for its debut at the race. A win from Konrad is unlikely, but a reliable run to the finish could see it climb the order and finish well.
Mercedes: 9 cars
Like Audi, Mercedes’ effort has strength in numbers, with nine cars on the entry. The difference though, is that Mercedes has its new AMG GT3 to prove on a world stage and seven AMG-backed Performance Teams each packing a punch; and with no SLS’ down for a swan song, the AMG GT3 era has truly begun.
Two of the three Black Falcon-entered cars are blessed by AMG, with Adam Christodoulou, Maro Engel, Manuel Metzler and the ageless Bernd Schneider co-driving the #4, and Yelmer Buurman, Hubert Haupt, Dirk Müller, Engel pulling double duty in the #9, which is sporting the iconic Bilstein colours.
HTP, after switching back to Mercedes from Bentley meanwhile, is attacking the N24 with three blessed entries, featuring drivers which are more than capable of winning the race.
Christian Hohenadel will join Marco Seefried, Christian Vietoris and Renger van der Zande aboard the #29. While the #30 features Dominik Baumann, Maximilian Buhk, Thomas Jäger and the surprising addition of ex-Aston Martin star Stefan Mücke in 2016.
Completing the trio in the #31 is Blancpain Sprint Series champ Maximilian Buhk, Mücke driving a second car, Christian Vietoris and van der Zande also doing the double.
The third AMG Performance team is Haribo Racing, running two AMG GT3s with identical lineups. Max Gotz, Jan Seyffarth, Lance David Arnold and Uwe Alzen make up the aspirational team’s quartet.
Team Zakspeed and Black Falcon are also entering a private AMG GT3 apiece, bringing the total to nine in the race for the Stuttgart-based brand.
Nissan: 2 cars
The Nissan GT-R is yet to show its true potential on the Nordschilefe during the longer endurance races, but in a year where the few old and reliable GT3s are surrounded by brand new machines, 2016 could be the year it really makes its mark.
There’s three GT-Rs on the list this year, with two GT3s (the third an SP8 Schulze entry). One came as a surprise, with Team Zakspeed, which is also running an AMG GT3, running a smart-looking Nissan with GT Academy winners Marc Gassner and Florian Strauss and Dutch touring car fan-favourite Tom Coronel.
The other is entered by Nissan GT Academy Team RJN, with a very strong set of NISMO Athletes. Lucas Ordonez, Michael Krumm, Alex Buncombe and Kazuki Hoshino will drive the car, and has all the potential to fight at the front.
Porsche: 6 cars
For Porsche it’s strength in depth, with six entries, with three being of great quality for the debut of the 2016 911 GT3 R.
The last couple of years has seen Porsche’s best results come from the Falken Motorsports camp, that this year comes with the new car. After finishing fourth in 2014, and on the podium with a third in 2015, the team can safely aim high here.
Alexandre Imperatori, Peter Dumbreck, Martin Ragginger and Wolf Henzler again make up the numbers for the team’s single car entry.
The favourites in the Porsche camp however, will come from multiple N24 winner-Manthey Racing, which is back for a full-scale attack with four cars. Two of them are Porsche-backed GT3 Rs, which will combine eight of Porsche’s best talents to tackle the ring.
In the #911, 2015 Le Mans winners Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy will share with rapid Frenchmen Kevin Estre and Patrick Pilet. The #912 meanwhile sees the formidable four of Richard Lietz, Jörg Bergmeister, Michael Christensen and Fred Makowiecki take on the race together.
For the Frikadelli Racing Team, Klaus Abbelen, Sabine Schmitz, Patrick Huisman and Norbert Siedler WILL drive in the ‘meatball’, after the the team briefly pulled its entry after the post VLN-3 BoP change.
Thankfully the organisers reacted; a wider restrictor for its car tempted the team to reinstate its Porsche.
Other notable entries
Aston Martin
Separate from AMR, Aston Martin Lagonda once again is back with its Test Center team.
The new Vantage GT8 in SP8, revealed at Silverstone round on the World Endurance Championship weekend, is one to keep an eye on, especially when factory star Darren Turner takes the reigns.
The second car entered by the Test Center is the proven Vantage V12, also in SP8.
Glickenhaus
For the fans at the race who love everything ‘bonkers’, the three Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus cars will satisfy their needs. The team brings two of the new SCG003Cs to the race, one with 2013 race-winner Jeroen Bleekemolen, and the other with Swede Andreas Simonsen headlining. The two cars, along with a Manthey Porsche Cayman GT4, make up the SP-X class.
The third car is also interesting, with the older E1-XP Hybrid class entered SCG P4/5 Competition M16 is back for another go at the race.
Top Gear’s Chris Harris (who is racing in the Blancpain Endurance Cup this season) is the most familiar name, sharing the car with fellow journalist (from Evo Magazine) Jethro Bovingdon and N24-veteran Manuel Lauck.
Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing is celebrating 10 years of racing at the N24 by entering three very different cars.
The Lexus IS F CCS-R makes up the numbers in the healthy SP8 category, while the Lexus RC will turn heads in SP 3T.
However, the C-HR Racing crossover is the most intriguing car here.
The 4×4 looks the part in TGR colours, and has potential to run with too. It’s not the first time a car as large has entered the ‘Ring 24, but it’s the first time a true factory effort has developed one.
TCR
One of the best kept secrets in motorsport at the moment is TCR, which is quietly taking international touring car racing by storm.
2016 marks the first year that TCR-homologated cars are able to enter the 24, and while there’s only three cars in the class (two Seat Leons and a VW Golf), it is certainly something to watch for the future.
The 2016 Nürburgring 24 Hours gets underway at 15:30 local time in Germany on Saturday.
(With thanks to Sören Herweg)
