Written by Aaron Carroll, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
The #16 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, run by Scherer Sport PHX and driven by Frank Stippler, Christopher Mies, Ricardo Feller and Dennis Marschall has won the 2024 Nurburgring 24H after a lengthy red flag period caused by dense fog, caused the race to have just 46 racing laps completed at race end.
The #72 RMG BMW, driven by Dan Harper started the race on pole position alongside the #911 Manthey EMA Porsche, driven by Kevin Estre, but due to mixed conditions all around the infamous Nordschleife circuit, the BMW pitted for a change of compound at the end of the formation lap.
This left the #911 Porsche battling with the #99 Rowe Racing BMW, driven by Augusto Farfus for much of the early stints in the race.
Disaster would strike however for the #99 car, now driven by Sheldon Van Der Linde. As he tried to overtake two lower class cars at the bottom of the foxhole, he collided with them and was sent careening into the barriers from the lead of the race.
The #72, after driving back up through the SP9 (GT3) field, was then locked in battle with the #911 in place of its BMW counterpart - the BMW’s showing pace early - followed by the #16 Audi in third.
Tyre choice was still a big influence on the pit stops as teams tried to predict the mixed conditions at the 25.3 km long circuit. Manthey EMA and driver Laurens Vanthoor in the #911 car decided to test some slicks, but ultimately dropped down the order as a result of the decision.
As the race descended into the hours of darkness, the #510 Audi S2-LIM driven by Christoph Durpé burst into flames at Brunchen. Fortunately, the driver stepped out of the car injury-free, before the fire marshals arrived to extinguish the flames.
After a cracking battle between Ayhancan Guven in the #911 and Frank Stippler in the #16, the Audi pit to switch drivers to Christopher Mies. Mies pulled off some jaw-dropping moves on many of the SP9 frontrunners to get himself back up to first, as fog descended on the Nurburgring.
As the leaders crossed the line after 46 laps of scintillating racing, race control deemed the track unsafe to race on due to the fog, and threw out the red flags at 11:22 p.m. track time.
It wasn’t until over 14 hours later that race control decided to send the driver out behind the safety car for five formation laps to test the visibility, however this effort proved futile.
After four laps had been completed, race control decided to not restart the race, much to the delight of the Scherer Sport PHX team, as they were confirmed as winners of the 2024 Nurburgring 24H.
Top 10 Classification
10. #44 Falken Motorsports, Porsche (SP9)
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