In contrast to the frequent leadership changes which marked Saturday evening’s action, the order became far more settled during the early hours of Sunday morning.

A good quick run from the N°18 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Marc Lieb/Lucas Kuhr/Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas saw the Manthey Racing-run car pull gradually clear of its most threatening chasers. They were the N°32 Mercedes SLS AMG, the N°14, 15 and 16 Audi R8 LMs and the N°1 BMW M3 GT. At 2am, only the top four cars were still on the same lap.

With two-thirds of the race now completed, and as the sun attempts to burn a hole in the cloud cover that has been shrouding the Eifel Mountains for much of the week, the N°18 Porsche enjoys a comfortable cushion over the N°32 Mercedes, while the N°15 Audi is under threat from the N°1 BMW which is currently in the hands of Pedro Lamy.

Shortly after midnight, the N°76 Z4 GT3 figured as high as second overall, but it crashed out of the race at Planzgarten after a collision with another car. Meanwhile, the mechanics looking after the N°9 Porsche had to change the hybrid car’s gearbox a second time.

Just a brief word about some of the race’s early leaders: the N°22 Mercedes is 8^th (three laps behind), the N°2 Ferrari is 12^th (five laps back), the N°7 BMW is 19^th (eight laps down) and the N°9 Porsche Hybrid is 27^th (10 laps behind the leader).

The N°117 VW of the past three Dakar winners (Al-Attiyah/Sainz/de Vlliers + Niedzwiedz) is 33^rd and leading its class…

Audi R8, Manthey Racing, Mercedes SLS, Nürburgring 24 Hours 2011, Porsche GT3 RSR