The 2011 Nürburgring 24 Hours got off to a thrilling start in rapidly drying conditions as the lead changed hands on numerous occasions during the first few hours. Instead of throwing all its weight into the early fight, however, Manthey Racing opted for a more surefooted approach which saw the N°18 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR edge gradually closer to the top of the order. It eventually eased ahead shortly before midnight, before patiently extending its cushion.

BMW will understandably feel frustrated by the result, since the gap of 4m23.7s which split the N°1 M3 GT of Müller/Farfus/Alzen/Lamy from the winning Porsche after 156 laps (3,959km, a record) was pretty much equivalent to the time it lost on Saturday evening, first of all because of Pedro Lamy’s spin which knocked the car off the lead. The ensuing repairs cost valuable time, too, and the team was then handed a three-minute “stop&go” penalty after the Portuguese driver drove against oncoming traffic in the aftermath of the aforementioned incident. Lamy made amends, however, with an inspired stint at daybreak on Sunday which put the N°1 car back in contention while also bagging the fastest race lap up to that point.

The third car on this afternoon’s podium was the N°14 Audi R8 LMS of Basseng/Fässler/Piccini/Stippler, which finished just ahead of its N°15 (Stippler/Hennerici/Haase/Winkelhock) and N°16 (Ekström/Scheider/Werner/Abt) sister cars.

Audi’s close-formation finish comes just two weeks after the make’s success with the R18 prototype at Le Mans.

Several cars led the race briefly before suffering a variety of fates which either eliminated them from the race or saw them tumble down the order. Mercedes monopolised the provisional podium for a while on Saturday evening, its effort spearheaded by the Michelin-equipped N°30 SLS before that car was halted by a tangle with another competitor. The N°7 factory BMW (2^nd) had dropped out of contention earlier following an issue with its brakes, while the N°9 Porsche Hybrid (28^th) was seriously delayed by two gearbox changes during the night.

Manthey Racing, Michelin, Nürburgring 24 Hours 2011, Porsche GT3 RSR